According to Alabama News, part of its new 10-cent gas tax increase will go toward the $400 million widening and deepening of the Mobile ship channel, something coastal lawmakers called “a good deal.”
Ship channel to be deepened
The current plan will see the ship channel deepened in most places to 50-feet, or deep enough to accommodate a new class of containership, the New Panamax class, according to Judith Adams with the Alabama State Port Authority.
The Port of Mobile can currently fit Post Panamax I and II ships, which can carry around 6,000 and 8,500 shipping containers, respectively. The New Panamax class can carry around 12,500 containers.
Enable two-way traffic
The ship channel is also set to be widened under the current plan, which will allow for two-way traffic in the channel.
He added, “The deepening obviously gives us the depth, but the widening is also needed to allow the larger/wider ships to more efficient transit the channel, which in turn eliminates costly delays at berth or the sea buoy”.
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Source: AL
