ALABAMA’s Port of mobile expansion remains on track to meet shippers’ demand and accommodate new vessel services, reports Rotterdam’s Dredging Today.
In keeping with their commitments to service and efficiency, the Alabama Port Authority and Maersk’s APM Terminals have agreed to add container capacity at the Port of Mobile.
Under the agreement, the Port Authority and APM Terminals will add 32 acres to the existing 134-acre facility bringing the facility’s annual throughput capacity to one million TEU.
These improvements mark the fourth time the Alabama Port Authority and APM Terminals have expanded the container terminal since its opening in October 2008.
The new US$104 million Phase IV expansion programme adds a new sheet pile wall on the north side of the terminal to facilitate the filling of 13 acres of man-made water-bottoms generating new land.
The project will also develop another 19 acres adjacent to the water-bottoms generating a combined yard of 32 acres. The first 19 acres are expected to be completed in 2024, and the 13 acres are expected to be completed by early 2025.
Another key project will soon dredge the harbour to 50 feet by early 2025. The Mobile Ship Channel deepening and widening is under phased construction with the entrance channel completed earlier this year.
The 50-foot draft federal channel will allow neo-panamax essels up to 14,000 TEU to fully load. The US Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Alabama have fully funded the $366 million harbour modernisation programme.
