$300 Million Container Terminal In Mobile, Alabama Opens

Mobile, AL (AHN) - The Alabama State Port Authority has started the operations of a new $300 million container terminal at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, the country's 10th largest port.

The Mobile Container Terminal (MCT) has an initial annual capacity of 350,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) and will be developed in phases to full capacity at 800,000 TEUs.

The MCT has a terminal area of 135 acres, a 2,000-foot-long wharf, an intermodal rail terminal facility and a distribution complex. It is located close to the intersection of five Class 1 railroads, and has immediate access to Interstates 10 and 65.

Plans are underway to build a new intermodal rail terminal and the dredging of a deeper turning basin in the 45-foot-deep ship channel.

Six vessels have already docked at the terminal since its opening in late October. These are container vessels of Maersk of Denmark, CMA CGM of France, and Israel's Zim Integrated Shipping Services.

The services of these lines connect seaborne trade between Asia and the U.S. Gulf and East Coast.

The MCT currently employs 300 and could raise over 1,300 jobs when fully completed. It is also expected to generate spillover businesses such as warehousing, cargo consolidation and trucking.

The new container terminal is a joint venture between the port authority, APM Terminals and Terminal Link.

MCT is managed and operated by APM Terminals North America, Inc. of Portsmouth, Virginia, a sister company of Maersk and subsidiary of A.P. Moller-Maersk of Denmark. APM has partnered with Terminal Link, a division of CMA CGM.