Called the Phase 3 expansion, the project includes a dock extension and an additional 20 acres of container yard. When completed, the project will boost capacity at Mobile to 650,000 TEU. 

“The Phase 3 expansion enables us to stay well ahead of the growth pattern we’ve seen in the Port of Mobile, as well as add dock space to support the growing vessel sizes that are coming to the terminal. It will help us maintain the efficiency levels our customers have come to expect, while also creating the extra capacity needed to support potential future economic growth in our market,” said Brian Harold, managing director for APM Terminals Mobile. 

Phase 3 is part of a 5-Phase, long-term plan to increase capacity at Mobile to 1.5M TEU. Phase 3 includes a 400-foot dock extension, crane rails and upgrades to the fender system to accommodate 14,000 TEU ships. The dock extension will take approximately 24 months to complete, while the yard will take 18 months to complete. 

Mobile handled 280,000 TEU in 2016 and throughput has grown strongly this year after THE Alliance added Mobile to its AL 4 service to Northern Europe in May.

“When completed, Phase 3 will complement the recently commissioned Phase II investments that delivered 20 acres and installed two new super Post-Panamax cranes to serve new business through the terminal, including containers bound for Walmart’s 2.6 million square foot import distribution center at Mobile, Ala. The project will also compliment the recently completed Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, which is accessible by five Class I railroads, including the Canadian National, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern and BNSF,” ASPA said in a statement. 

“Container intermodal growth continues to drive investment at the Port of Mobile,” said James K. Lyons, chief executive of the Alabama State Port Authority. Since 2005, the Port Authority and its partners have invested $535 million in shore-side and channel improvements to support the larger ships calling the Port of Mobile. “These prior investments have competitively positioned the port and established Mobile as an alternate gateway for U.S. trade. This expansion and our planned harbour deepening and widening program will provide both shippers and carriers with a cost effective, customer service oriented option,” added Lyons.

The ASPA is trying to push its dredging project through the process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Deepening its channel to 55ft wide and widening it to 550 feet was actually authorised by Congress back in 1986. However, the Channel currently sits at 45ft deep and 400ft wide. In 2014 the ASAP requested that the Corps of Engineers consider deepening and widening the Channel to its authorised dimensions. The requisite study is underway, and the ASPA said a record of decision is expected by year-end 2019.