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Mobile can more quickly turn over container ships with fewer delays, the source said.
Houston and Mobile are on par with the relative number of container ships facing delays, according to data from Sea- Web, a sister company of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global. Over the last 12 months, 24 % of the container ships that call Houston have sat at anchorage, Sea-web data shows, compared with about 19 % of similar calls to Mobile.
However, ships spent 32 hours on average waiting at Houston’ s anchorage compared with 13 hours at Mobile’ s. Along with widening its ship channel for faster transits, Houston is adding berth capacity to handle more ships.
Mediterranean Shipping Co.( MSC) has been the most frequent caller to Mobile, according to Sea-web. MSCoperated ships have made 83 of the 298 ship calls to Mobile over the past 12 months, bringing in an average vessel size of about 6,500 TEUs.
MSC and Zim Integrated Shipping Services, which made 17 calls over the same time, jointly operate one of Mobile’ s Asia services, while MSC also operates a standalone trans-Atlantic and Indian service.
One of those Asia services, the Lone Star-Zim Gulf Coast( ZGC) had previously been using Mobile as a first call, until it switched to Houston because of greater cargo demand there. The service has since been folded into another MSC-Zim Gulf Coast service.
CMA CGM is the second most frequent caller, with some 46 to Mobile since last October, Sea-web data shows. But as part of the Ocean Alliance, whose other members made 48 calls to Mobile, CMA CGM brings in larger capacity ships of about 9,000 TEUs through its Pacific Express 3 service.
Ocean Alliance members Cosco Shipping and OOCL bring in 8,000-TEU ships on average as part of their expansion of the Gulf of Mexico Express Service.
More Midwest reach
The addition of more ship capacity, though, will largely depend on how much Mobile’ s intermodal reach will grow. About 20 % of the port’ s cargo volume is going inland, putting it more into competition with Savannah and Los Angeles for intermodal access.
CSX Transportation broke ground earlier this year on the Montgomery Inland port developed in conjunction with the state port authority. The site, which will serve the state’ s carmakers and other logistics hubs, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.
CSX is also reportedly looking at developing a site in Decatur, close to Huntsville, a major destination for intermodal cargo from Savannah. In that same vein, CSX is looking at developing intermodal access in Louisville and Cincinnati through Mobile, according to a source familiar with the railroad’ s plans.
“ Five feet of draft is significant for capacity.”
In turn, Canadian National Railway, which offers service into Chicago, is looking at developing Memphis as a market for intermodal cargo from Mobile, according to carrier sources in the region.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City( CPKC) is considering an eastbound intermodal service from Mobile to Dallas, putting the port more into competition with Houston for that market, according to a source familiar with their plans.
While it did not comment on specific origin and destination pairs, CPKC and CSX entered a cooperative agreement in July on growing a joint service that connects the US Southeast and Mexico through Texas.
As for terminal capacity, APM Mobile is in the midst of its fourth expansion that will bring it to 1.1 million-TEU capacity by 2027. The state port authority is said to have recently approved a land acquisition that will eventually allow APM Mobile to add a third berth, although the timeline for the development remains unclear.
email: michael. angell @ spglobal. com
A five-year, $ 366 million project brought the harbor at Port of Mobile( pictured) to 50 feet. Shutterstock. com www. joc. com November 3, 2025 | Journal of Commerce 25