By Troy Turner
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded more than $100 million in new contract work to improve Mobile’s harbor and access to its bustling port.
The work comes as Mobile’s role with the Navy and Coast Guard is growing at a rapid pace, bringing billions of dollars in defense industry contracts to the region. That, in addition to the harbor’s growing economic impact on the U.S. with Mobile serving as a vital commercial port linking Gulf of Mexico shipping to the nation’s interior.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and port officials in February 2024 reported that the Port of Mobile’s economic impact on Alabama’s economy in 2022, the most recent statistics available, totaled $98.3 billion.
Port of Mobile railyard.
Most of the harbor channel now is 45 feet deep and 400 feet wide. However, under the 1986 Water Resources Development Act, the authorized dimensions were set at 55 feet deep and 550 feet wide.
The Alabama State Port Authority in 2014 submitted a request to the Corps of Engineers to consider increasing the depth and width to the authorized dimensions, and that began the years-long process leading to the current work.
Making it better
The Department of Defense recently announced two new contracts for the harbor.
The Dutra Group, based in San Rafael, California, was awarded a $75 million firm-fixed-price contract for deepening and widening work. The company will operate from Irvington, Alabama, with an estimated project completion date of Feb. 27, 2025.
The Corps of Engineers is the contracting agency, and it previously awarded The Dutra Group a similar, $67 million contract for work at the Navy’s home port in Norfolk, Virginia, for dredging and clean-up operations.
The Dutra Group promotes itself as an industry-leading marine construction company that consists of three integrated divisions, involving dredging, construction and materials; with more than 100 years of experience.
The Corps of Engineers awarded a $27 million contract to Weeks Marine Inc., in Covington, Louisiana, also for work to deepen and widen Mobile’s harbor channel.
Weeks is headquartered in New Jersey and likewise provides more than a century of experience in harbor work such as the current project in Mobile.
Submarine maintenance
Meanwhile another example of American military planners eyeing the Mobile area’s expertise came with the third-year option exercised for a company with Alabama ties doing preservation and maintenance work on U.S. Navy submarines in Norfolk.
International Marine and Industrial Applicators (IMIA), in Spanish Fort, Alabama, is working with two other companies toward a five-year, cumulative $249 million contract that calls for a variety of tasks required to service the submarines.
IMIA provides a wide array of marine preservation and structural services, with work locations based in several key regions such as the Gulf of Mexico, east and west coasts, and Hawaii.
Abuzz with activity
Military shipbuilding and maintenance work continues to have a strong presence in Mobile, as two major companies — Alabama Shipyard and Austal USA — both recently received additional contracts in a long line of work for the Navy.
Alabama Shipyard in May was awarded a $30 million contract for shipyard availability and routine overhaul work on the hospital ship USNS Comfort, a return customer for the company.
The latest contract work on the Comfort is expected to begin Aug. 1 and be completed by Jan. 3, 2025.
Austal USA, based in Mobile, garnered a $516 million contract modification for advance work toward the lead ship of the future T-AGOS 25 class ocean surveillance vessels, which support Navy antisubmarine warfare operations. (Related story: https://aladefense.com/austal-wins-navy-contract-to-build-ships-supporting-antisubmarine-mission/)
The contract was merely the latest in a string of Navy and Coast Guard projects awarded to Austal in recent years, including deals to construct and service several variants of combat and support ships.
Added together, the contracts amount to several billion dollars in Department of Defense contracts, and thus the additional importance placed on providing enhancements to Mobile’s harbor.
Congressmen Jerry Carl (L) and Mike Rogers (R) visiting the Austal USA shipyard.
Growing the fleet
There were 290 battle force ships in the Navy’s fleet at the start of fiscal year 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Naval planners hope to upscale that number to the mid- to high-300s by 2053.
The Navy has 88 ships under contract, with 66 of them under construction, it reported earlier this year. Those numbers are expected to rise as more contracts are finalized throughout the fiscal year, including work based in the Mobile Bay region.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Photos from Port of Mobile, Alabama Port Authority; and Rep. Jerry Carl’s office.
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