Members of Mobile’s maritime community are working to move as many relief supplies as possible to the Bahamas in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, coordinating a logistics chain that stretches from the Port of Mobile to the storm-ravaged islands.
“It’s in coordination with the officials on the ground working relief efforts and they’ve assured us the goods will get to where they need to go,” said Judy Adams with the Alabama State Port Authority. Supplies are being gathered at Mobile and other Gulf Coast ports, then shipped to an American port in the Everglades before continuing to the Bahamas.
The effort is being spearheaded by Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s second-largest container line, which operates a major hub at Port Freeport in the Bahamas. Adams noted that the hurricane so damaged Bahamian port infrastructure that the country can only accept one vessel in and one vessel out at a time, often requiring smaller ships rather than the large container vessels that typically call at the Port of Mobile.
“The government and port officials in the Bahamas are coordinating one vessel in, one vessel out — they have to use small ships, not the typical ships that call the port of Mobile,” Adams said.
Collection points were established at the Port Authority’s locations on Water Street and Ezra Trice Boulevard, as well as a drop-off site in the atrium of Government Plaza operated by the Mobile County Commission. Needed items included bottled water, canned and dry foods, batteries, basic medicines and first-aid kits, toilet paper and paper towels, mosquito repellent, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, and baby supplies.
A Gulf Coast lifeline for a devastated neighbor
The Bahamas has longstanding ties to the Gulf Coast shipping community, and Mobile’s port operators moved quickly to leverage those connections. The logistical challenges — damaged ports, limited vessel capacity, and the need to transship through Florida — underscore the difficulty of delivering aid to island nations after catastrophic storms.
Officials emphasized that all donations were being coordinated with on-the-ground relief officials to ensure supplies reached the areas of greatest need.