Port Authority Head Details Upcoming Projects

John Driscoll, named Alabama State Port Authority director and CEO in June, recently shared details on the fruition of long-term investments at the docks in Mobile with AL.com. Plans set in motion under outgoing leader Jimmy Lyons, who recently had his own interview at AL.com, are to see several benefits in the next few years. First, a booming container terminal operated by partner APM continues to grow and is attracting new shipping services, with ships on the port’s first direct-from-Asia route to start arriving this month. Next, a new “roll-on, roll-off” automobile terminal and a new cold storage and freezing facility are to become operational in the spring. Additionally, work is set to begin on a long-planned expansion of the Mobile Ship Channel, which will allow bigger ships to reach the port, which should boost container shipping. Other plans Driscoll shared include expanding railroad use for container shipping and kicking off $45 million in improvements to the McDuffie Coal Terminal over the next seven years. The latter is “critical,” he said, for the expanded exportation of metallurgical-grade coal, which is mined in Alabama and shipped to steelmakers.