Mobile (Alabama)

Port Mobile AL is Alabama USA's only seaport. It is located on Mobile Bay (Gulf of Mexico's inlet) which is formed by Fort Morgan Peninsula (on the east) and Dauphin Island (on the west). The city covers an area of approx 413 km2 (159 mi2) and has population around 195,000 (metro around 415,000).

Among the city's most popular tourist attractions are Bellingrath Gardens and Home, antebellum home Oakleigh Mansion, Cox-Deasy Cottage Museum and Battleship USS Alabama. Fort Conde is a partial replica of an original 18th-century French fort. Fort Gaines is the battle site of the famed Battle of the Bay in August 1864. Mobile is the birthplace of the USA's Mardi Gras (aka America's Family Mardi Gras).

Wildlife fans should visit Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island. Another fresh idea is boat touring Mobile Bay's estuary, home to over 250 species of birds, 230 species of fish and wildlife, including black bears, alligators, bald eagles, osprey.

Port Mobile Alabama

Port Mobile is a deepwater seaport (Alabama's only one) ranked in 2010 as the USA's 12th largest cargo port by tonnage (shipping trade volume over 55,7 million tons). The port is along Mobile River - where the river empties into the bay.

The port has deep-water terminals which all have direct access to Alabama's inland and intracoastal waterways. These waterways also serve USA's Great Lakes, and the rivers Ohio and Tennessee (via Tenn-Tom / Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway with length 377 km / 234 mi).

The port and all its facilities are owned and managed by Alabama State Port Authority. All public terminals can handle various types of cargo ships (including container / boxships, bulk and breakbulk carriers, Ro-Ro ships (roll-on / roll-off). The port also has private bulk terminal operators. All container, general cargo and bulk cargo terminals have dirrect access to two US interstate railway systems plus 5 "Class I" US railroads. The CG Railway (terminal railroad) operates from the Mobile Alabama port a rail ferry service to Coatzacoalcos (Mexico).

Mobile is USA's largest seaport for handling breakbulk forest products. McDuffie Terminal is among USA's largest coal terminals. It is also the country's largest import coal terminal. Mobile AL was ranked USA's 4th largest coal export port for 2012, with the majority of the exports being shipped to Europe and South America.

In the period 2010-2015, the port invested over USD 0,5 billion in redevelopment projects, including port infrastructure improvements, land acquisitions, warehousing, constructing new rail depots and inter-modal yards, also improvements and enhancements of cargo terminals (serving oil tankers and gas carriers) and cargo shipping vessels (containerized, bulk, breakbulk). A new rail ferry terminal and a new container terminal were also built. A new steel terminal was also built to serve Calvert Alabama's stainless and carbon steel processing facility. The McDuffie Coal Terminal was expanded.

On April 20, 2017, APM Terminals announced that THE Alliance (container shipping companies group) launches in May 2017 the AL4 trade route between Port Mobile and ports in Northern Europe. The AL4 route is a weekly container vessel service and links the ports Mobile AL, Southampton England, Antwerp Belgium, Bremerhaven Germany, Le Havre (Paris France), Veracruz Mexico, Altamira Mexico, Houston TX, NOLA New Orleans, Mobile AL. APM Terminals Mobile opened in 2008 and reported a record year in 2016 (handling 277,307 TEU-containers).

On March 20, 2020, was completed APM Terminals Mobile's quay extension. The expanded berth now can handle two boxships (max 10K-TEU capacity each) simultaneously. The container dock extension was part of a USD 450 million project aimed to increase the terminal's capacity by upgrading and expanding all the port's marine and rail intermodal terminals. By this project, in 2020 also started works on shipping channel dredging and harbor improvements.

Mobile cruise port

Port Mobile ceased cruise shipping operations in October 2011, when Carnival Cruise Line (homeporting vessels here since 2004) relocated Carnival Elation and stopped using the port, mainly due to rising fuel costs. In February 2013, Carnival Triumph was stranded at sea for 4 days. Then the port opened its cruise dock for the disabled vessel, where its nearly 4000 passengers were disembarked.

• In late-September 2015, the city promised to put up USD 200,000 per quarter (USD 0,8 million per year) for marketing. The marketing fund was established with the city's money from parking revenue and used for marketing cruises leaving from Mobile. It was estimated that from parking fees, terminal / port fees and passenger charges, the city will have an annual profit ~USD 2 million on cruise ship operations. It was also announced that starting November 2016, Carnival Fantasy will offer a year-long 4-day and 5-day cruise schedule to Mexico leaving roundtrip from "Mobile Cruise Terminal".
• In September-October 2016, the port invested USD 4 million in new TSA equipment (security and baggage screening machines) installed on the terminal's 2nd floor.
• On November 10, 2015, Carnival Fantasy started its homeporting/turnaround service to Mexico. The 4-day itinerary departed Thursdays and visited Cozumel. The 5-day itineraries departed Mondays and Saturdays, visiting Cozumel and Costa Maya or Progreso.
• In November 2016, Carnival Corporation signed a 13-month contract (thru December 2017) with Port Mobile AL. As all 2017 cruises were booked within a month, Carnival allowed travel agents to book itineraries out of Mobile into April 2019.
• In August 2017, Carnival signed a 1-year contract extension with the port (through December 2019). In October 2019, Carnival signed a 3-year homeporting extension (through November 2022) for Carnival Fantasy.

Since 2018, Carnival offers 7-day roundtrip departures from Mobile AL to destinations no longer limited to Caribbean Mexico. On April 25, 2017, the company officially announced that Carnival Fantasy will offer new itineraries with call ports in the Bahamas, Key West Florida, Grand Cayman Island/George Town, Costa Rica, Belize, Panama Canal. The new itineraries are longer than the ship's usual 4- and 5-night roundtrips to Mexico.

Since August 2021, Carnival Sensation is homeported in Mobile AL for Western Caribbean itineraries: 4-night (to Cozumel) and 5-night (Cozumel and Progreso). (For the first time ever) the boat docked in Mobile (at Alabama Cruise Terminal) on May 14, 2021.

Mobile cruise terminal