Terminal Operations: Mobile

APM Terminals Drives Growth at Port of Mobile

 
An APM Terminals Mobile aerial perspective showing the active facility and the phase 2 expansion area
Photo/Alabama State Port Authority

Alabama State Port Authority and APM Terminals investments continued to pay off in 2016, and better results are forecast for 2017. APM Terminals Mobile, which increased container traffic at the port by 19 percent last year to a record 277,307 TEUs, and is expecting a boost following the opening next year of a Walmart import distribution center in Mobile.

"Regional manufacturing growth and now landing retail giant, Walmart, is strengthening a vision we launched back in 2001 to create state-of-the-art container intermodal facilities to fuel regional investment and jobs creation," said James K. Lyons, director and chief executive officer for the Alabama State Port Authority.

To keep pace with current growth and expanding market opportunities, APM Terminals announced last year a $47.5 million, Phase 2 expansion that will increase terminal throughput capacity to 500,000 TEUs annually. The 95-acre facility opened in 2008 with a depth of 45 feet and two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes capable of spanning 18 container rows. Phase 2 will expand the container yard by 20 acres and add two new super-Post Panamax STS cranes with a 22 container-row reach to handle ships of up to 14,000 TEUs capacity.

The port recently widened its turning basin to accommodate vessels of up to 1,300 feet in length. The Alabama State Port Authority and APM Terminals also invested more than $55 million in an Intermodal Container Transfer Facility that opened in June 2016. Direct rail service to Memphis, Kansas City, Decatur, Chicago and various Canadian locations is provided by the Canadian National/Illinois Central.

In the past year, APM Terminals attracted service calls from the Far East, with three weekly direct container services linking Mobile with China, Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. A weekly container direct service between Mobile and Northern Europe is set to begin this month.

In 2015, Airbus began importing large plane components on multi-purpose cargo ships from Hamburg, Germany via APM Terminals Mobile for final assembly of the A-320 jetliner at the American Airbus factory located near the port at the Mobile Aeroplex in Brookley (AL).

In March, APM Terminals Mobile received the 2017 Governor’s Trade Excellence Award for promoting and facilitating the export of Alabama goods and services across the globe.