Alabama State Port Authority Pier News

The USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) will be commissioned June 4, 2011, at the Alabama State Port Authority Pier 2 Terminal in a ceremony co-hosted by the City of Pensacola and the City of Mobile. The commissioning was originally planned for NAS Pensacola as part of the celebration of the Centennial of Naval Aviation. Mobile offered to co-host the ceremony at the Port of Mobile after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the channel leading to the Pensacola base would not be dredged to an adequate depth in time for the commissioning. “The Navy is extremely selective about who can and should be approved to host such an event,” said Admiral Robert Kelly, USN (Ret), vice chairman of Armed Services for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company began providing heavy lift barge crane services to cargo customers at the Port of Mobile. In the company’s first lift, the new 900T heavy lift crane transloaded to barge a 102 metric ton down coiler machine from Grieg Star Shipping’s vessel the M/V Star Grip. The lift operation took place at the Alabama State Port Authority’s Pier 2 terminal. Stevedore services were provided by CSA Stevedoring and Nord-Sud Shipping Inc., served as the vessel agent.