Dredging to Begin Soon at Port of Gulfport

Crews are setting up to start dredging the channel at the Port of Gulfport and expect to be getting started very soon. The dredging will allow larger ships to dock at the port, bringing millions of dollars of revenue into the port and the city.

Bringing ships into port is one of those situations where size does matter, and crews are starting to lay the pipe work to increase the depth of the channel by another three feet. Tug boats will move floating barges on which to float pipes that will move the sand from the bottom of the 18 mile long channel to a location further west, where it will be spread evenly.

Three feet may not seem like much, but to a fully loaded tanker, it can mean the difference between making berth in New Orleans or in Gulfport. The Mississippi Port Authority has already brought in two new clients and is looking forward to the increased revenue the port improvements will bring.

Jonathan Daniels, Executive Director & C.E.O. of the Mississippi Port Authority, says, "These vessels are like small cruise vessels. There’s about 75 to 100 people on these vessels at any given time. They go through crew changes every 28 days, so there are going to be people flying in, flying out. They are going to be staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants, buying food at our restaurants, in addition, some contractor is going to have the opportunity to put food, material, stores on that vessel."

The Port Authority expects to increase revenue by at least $300 million statewide with these improvements and add about 1,300 new jobs.