Already the fastest-growing container facility in the nation for the past six years, the Alabama Port Authority this week kicked off a fourth expansion that will double container capacity at the Mobile Port.
Additional facilities will allow the port to handle more than 1 million twenty-foot-equivalent units – port language for shipping container size.
“Forbes recently named the Port of Mobile the second fastest-growing port of entry to the United States over the past decade,” the port noted in announcing the start of the expansion.
“The launch of the fourth phase of our container terminal expansion marks another transformative step for the Port of Mobile,” said John Driscoll, director and CEO of the Alabama Port Authority. “As trade patterns continue to evolve, this expansion ensures that we remain a reliable, efficient and sustainable gateway for commerce. We are investing to ensure the Port of Mobile meets the needs of current and future business partners across the globe and enhances our role as a key driver of Alabama’s economy.”
The port partners with APM Terminals Mobile to operate the container facilities.
“This increased capacity will enable APM Terminals in Mobile to continue as one of the country’s fastest growing and most efficient ports serving existing and new customers and markets in the state of Alabama and states beyond,” said Brian Harold, managing director of APM Terminals.
The Port-APM Terminals partnership improves both capacity and efficiency, port officials note.
“While turn times for drivers at ports nationwide average anywhere from two to three hours, Mobile has a unique competitive advantage, with drivers at the Port of Mobile typically completing their dual transactions in just 45 minutes or less,” Port officials noted.
The expansion includes an inter-terminal connector bridge allowing on-dock railway access — a project financed with $200 million in federal funding secured by former Sen. Richard Shelby.
The port is also deepening and widening channels to allow for “super post-Panamax” vessels — the largest than can travel through the Panama Canal. The port is also building two rail-accessed inland container transfer facilities — one in Montgomery and one in Decatur. And several new logistics parks have been announced in the vicinity of the port, the most recent this week.
