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The U.S. Coast Guard has reported a 46-foot vessel draft limit in the South Turning Basin at the Port of Mobile, following recent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers soundings that identified shoaling near the McDuffie, APM Terminals and Pinto Island waterfront areas. The restriction was reported November 2, 2026, and published in the Coast Guard's District 8 Gulf Local Notice to Mariners 44/2026. It applies to vessels turning in that basin, rather than the entire Mobile Ship Channel, which reached its authorized 50-foot depth on October 3, 2025. The Coast Guard said the Army Corps would provide dredging updates as information becomes available, without announcing a restoration date.
The Channel Is 50 Feet. The Turning Limit Is 46.
Recent Army Corps soundings led to a Coast Guard navigation warning for vessels turning near Mobile's McDuffie, APM and Pinto Island waterfront areas. The restriction is localized, not port-wide.
Reported total project investment
Completed October 3, 2025
Notice reported November 2, 2026
Reduced depth found in recent soundings
The published 50-foot channel depth is a project dimension. The 46-foot notice is a vessel draft restriction for a specific turning maneuver.
The federal deepening project opened a deeper route for commercial ship transits. Different harbor reaches and berths may have their own maintained depths and navigation conditions.
USACE soundings found localized reduced depth. The Coast Guard notice establishes a 46-foot vessel draft limit for ships that need to turn in this basin.
Conceptual operational comparison. The drawings are not hydrographic profiles, bathymetric charts or depictions of Mobile's actual turning-basin dimensions.
Figures from the Alabama Port Authority's October 13, 2026 first-anniversary release.
Vessels with recorded drafts greater than 45 feet. Not a count of ships affected by the basin restriction.
Approximately, up more than 20% year over year; not revenue from channel deepening alone.
SAKIZAWA POWER sailed from McDuffie in October 2025. Its historical turning maneuver was not specified.
USACE identified reduced depths, a 46-foot restriction applies to vessels turning in the South Turning Basin, and dredging updates are expected when information becomes available.
No port-wide closure, no published count of affected ships, no confirmed cargo shortfall, no date for restored draft, and no demonstrated limitation on every nearby terminal call.
Three Waterfront Areas. One Turning-Basin Restriction.
The navigation warning names McDuffie, APM and Pinto Island as reference points. The operational question is whether each vessel's approved maneuver uses the South Turning Basin.
Terminal proximity does not establish that every vessel using the facility must enter the affected basin.
Metallurgical coal handling and bulk carrier loading. The port advertises 50-foot deepwater access and a 30-million-ton annual coal-handling capacity.
Potential exposureDeep-loaded bulk carriers that need the South Turning Basin may face cargo-loading, turning or scheduling constraints under the 46-foot limit.
Container vessel berthing, lifting and inland transport connections. The terminal advertises access for large deep-draft container vessels.
Potential exposureThe limit may matter where a container vessel's approved harbor maneuver requires use of the affected turning area. Draft, beam and pilot conditions differ by ship.
Steel and other industrial port activity in the vicinity cited by the Coast Guard notice.
Potential exposureAny effect depends on the berth, vessel draft and required maneuver. The notice does not identify an affected shipment or cargo quantity.
This is an operational decision framework, not permission to navigate at a given draft.
Illustrative hydrostatic calculation only, using 80 metric tonnes per centimeter of immersion. Actual tonnes per centimeter vary by vessel and loading condition.
Four feet of draft difference, equivalent to about 122 centimeters.
Approximate change in displacement at an assumed 80 tonnes/cm.
Illustrative displacement difference using the same coefficient, not a documented cargo reduction for SAKIZAWA POWER.
These are the most useful additional records for measuring the actual commercial impact.
Berth-level vessel movements and pilot-approved turning routes are needed. The 168 port-wide deep-draft transits are not the answer.
Compare planned and final departure drafts, loading statements and voyage-specific restrictions.
Review the latest soundings for the basin rather than inferring its depths from the 46-foot draft restriction.
USACE has indicated that dredging information will be updated, but the notice provides no firm schedule.
Determine vessel-specific pilot and port approval before assuming deeper ships can bypass the basin.
Repeated hydrographic surveys and later navigation notices are needed to establish when the reported limit changes.
The Alabama Port Authority announces that the channel reached its 50-foot depth.
The port reports 168 transits above 45-foot draft and approximately $245 million in fiscal-year revenue.
South Turning Basin draft restriction reported and published through Coast Guard LNM 44/2026.
How Much Cargo Could a Four-Foot Draft Gap Put at Risk?
Test vessel draft, hydrostatic loading sensitivity and the possible commercial cost of operating around a turning-basin restriction. Compare lighter loading, a hypothetical waiting period and an assumed approved alternative.
Enter planned draft and the currently published basin limit. Use the vessel's actual hydrostatic tables for its tonnes-per-centimeter figure; the default is illustrative.
These inputs add to the Simple mode. They are not actual charges from the Port of Mobile or prices of approved services.
The entered planned draft exceeds the entered limit. The tool only calculates a possible cargo adjustment; it does not identify a safe or approved voyage plan.
The estimate treats the draft reduction as a corresponding reduction in displacement and assumes the adjustment comes from cargo, not ballast or other ship weights.
Only when the vessel is assumed to require this turning basin.
Converted using 30.48 centimeters per foot.
First-order approximation using entered TPC.
Planned cargo minus estimated loading adjustment.
Assumed amount handled later or by another transport option.
Not an observed Mobile cargo loss.
Unrecovered tonnes multiplied by entered net contribution per tonne.
Assumed time and ancillary charges, not a predicted delay.
Positive means the adjustment scenario costs more.
Per-vessel adjustment multiplied by entered affected-call count.
Illustrative combined cost if the same assumptions applied to every call.
Illustrative aggregate waiting scenario; not actual delays.
The financial result depends on whether the vessel needs the affected turn, the ship's loading characteristics and what ultimately happens to the adjusted cargo.
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