MSC Texas sets record for largest ship at Alabama State Port The largest ship in the Alabama State Port Authority’s history docked at its APM Terminals Mobile facility on Monday afternoon. According to the Press-Register, the MSC Texas, a container ship measuring 1,096 feet long and 141 feet wide, docked in Mobile to load and unload 500-600 containers while at the port. Port Authority Director Jimmy Lyons said there has been a steady increase in Post-Panamax vessels at the Port of Mobile due in part to infrastructure investments there.

The Gulf ports of New Orleans, Mobile and Gulfport remained closed Thursday morning in the wake of Hurricane Isaac as port executives waited to assess port and ocean conditions before reopening, JOC reports. Although Isaac was downgraded to a tropical storm, the ports were awaiting a survey of port conditions by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard to decide whether they would be able to reopen Friday. “We’re waiting for the corps and Coast Guard to start surveying,” said Judith Adams, a spokesperson for the Port of Mobile. “Right now, we’re hoping to have the port open by Friday.” She said the captain of the port is doing inner-harbor moves, but that the port remained closed to all inbound and outbound traffic. More to read at www.joc.com/ports...

Ports along the U.S. Gulf are suspending cargo operations in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac, which the National Weather Service said is expected to reach hurricane status when it hits shore late Tuesday, August 28, 2012. The ports of New Orleans, Gulfport, Pascagoula and Mobile will shut down until the storm passes. Mississippi River pilots ceased moving ships Monday morning, closing the river to deep-draft traffic until the storm threat passes. The Port of New Orleans’ administration building and cargo operations will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

As JOC reports, the Port of Mobile got its first call by a post-Panamax container ship on Sunday June 3rd 2012 when the MSC Laura docked at APM Terminals Mobile. The vessel call is the first in Mediterranean Shipping Co.’s new weekly direct service from the North European ports of Antwerp, Felixstowe, Bremerhaven and Le Havre to Mobile. www.joc.com/ports...

The Alabama State Port Authority said today that it is unloading its largest-ever import steel shipment. The MV SHI DAI 20 arrived in port carrying 4,259 carbon steel slabs weighing 94,210 metric tons. The slabs are headed for ThyssenKrupp Steel USA's mill in Calvert, where the material will be processed into coils. It should take about four days to offload the slabs, with 40 percent of them going straight to barges for shipment upriver, the port said.

Several vessels were unable to leave the port Thursday The Coast Guard on Thursday closed five miles of the Port of Mobile's shipping channel because of a heavy crude oil spill, preventing several vessels from leaving the port, JOC reports. The spill at Gulf Coast Asphalt, a private terminal across the Mobile River from the Alabama State Port Authority docks, occurred early morning Thursday when one of the tanks failed during the transfer of fuel, said Coast Guard spokesman Capt. John Edwards. A berm surrounding the tank contained much of the spilled fuel, but some ran into a ditch leading to the river. The amount of oil in the channel is unknown. Cleanup crews are working to contain the spill and the Coast Guard will be setting up a decontamination plan, Edwards said. The Coast Guard is investigating the accident. www.joc.com/ports...

CMA CGM and APM Terminals sign agreements in France and the US - CMA CGM and APM Terminals have announced new terminal agreements in Dunkirk in Northern France and Mobile, Alabama in the US. Source: eyefortransport