The Alabama Port Authority has closed fiscal year 2026 with revenue of approximately US$ 245 million, an increase of more than 20% over the previous fiscal year, marking the strongest revenue year in the organisation’s history.
The record result came just over one year after the Mobile Ship Channel reached its authorised depth of 50 feet on October 3, 2025, with increased customer demand, higher bulk cargo volumes, strong rail activity and the added capacity of the deeper channel all contributing to the outcome.
Since the channel opened to its full depth, 168 vessels have transited with a recorded draft greater than 45 feet, enabling shippers to move more cargo per trip without the restrictions imposed by the previous channel depth.
The US$ 425 million Mobile Harbor Modernization Project, a state-federal partnership between the Alabama Port Authority and the US Army Corps of Engineers, deepened and widened the ship channel for larger modern cargo vessels, with dredging beginning in 2020.
In addition to the greater depth, the project widened a portion of the channel to enable two-way vessel traffic.
The project was authorised by Congress in the 2018 Water Resources Development Act, with federal funding of more than US$ 270 million secured through the efforts of former US Senator Richard Shelby and Alabama’s congressional delegation.
The State of Alabama invested US$ 150 million through the 2019 Rebuild Alabama Act to cover its share of the expansion and fund additional berth dredging, championed by Governor Kay Ivey with bipartisan legislative support.
The channel expansion is part of more than US$ 2 billion in capital investments the Port Authority is making across the Port of Mobile, including a major container terminal expansion, development of inland rail facilities and significant investment in terminal and rail infrastructure.
APA Director and CEO Doug Otto described the channel expansion as a critical first piece of the broader infrastructure programme positioning the Port of Mobile and the State of Alabama for continued growth.
