The Alabama Port Authority closed the strongest revenue year in its history just over a year after the Mobile Ship Channel reached its full authorized depth of 50 feet, the agency said Tuesday.
The authority finished fiscal year 2026 with revenue of about $245 million, up more than 20% from the previous fiscal year. Higher customer demand, bulk cargo volumes and rail activity contributed, along with the added capacity of the deeper channel, the agency said.
168 deep-draft vessels so far
The channel opened to its full depth on October 3, 2025. Since then, 168 vessels with a recorded draft greater than 45 feet have transited it, and the authority said more join that list every day.
Each of those sailings lets customers move more cargo per trip without the depth restrictions of the old channel, according to the authority.
“We saw the value of having a deeper channel immediately, and we are continuing to see its impact on the cargo our customers are now able to move,” Alabama Port Authority Director and CEO Doug Otto said. “It’s helping shippers make better use of their transportation dollars, and it’s allowed a greater volume of cargo to move through the Port of Mobile.”
A $425 million project
The Mobile Harbor Modernization Project cost $425 million. The authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carried it out as a state-federal partnership to deepen and widen the channel for larger, modern cargo vessels. Dredging began in 2020.
The project also widened part of the channel to allow two-way vessel traffic.
Congress authorized the work in the 2018 Water Resources Development Act. The authority credited former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby and Alabama’s congressional delegation with making full implementation possible. Together, they helped secure more than $270 million in federal funding.
The State of Alabama put in $150 million to cover its share of the channel expansion and to pay for added dredging at three of the authority’s berths to reach the 50-foot depth. The money came through the 2019 Rebuild Alabama Act, which Gov. Kay Ivey championed and which won bipartisan support in both chambers of the Legislature.
More investment ahead
The channel work is one piece of more than $2 billion in capital investments the authority is making at the Port of Mobile and beyond. Those include a major expansion of the container terminal, inland rail facilities, and terminal and rail upgrades at the port.
“We are already seeing the return on investments driven by a commitment from our state and federal partners,” Otto said. “With a historic level of capital investment underway, the channel expansion was a critical first piece of the infrastructure investments that are positioning the Port of Mobile and the State of Alabama for continued growth in the years ahead.”