Mississippi Code Title 59. Ports, Harbors, Landings and Watercraft § 59-5-11

The board shall have power to acquire, purchase, install, lease, construct, own, hold, maintain, equip, use, control, and operate ports, harbors, waterways, channels, wharves, piers, docks, quays, elevators, tipples, compresses, bulk loading and unloading facilities, warehouses, floating dry docks, graving docks, marine railways, tugboats, ships, vessels, shipyards, shipbuilding facilities, machinery and equipment, dredges and any other facilities required and incidental to the construction, outfitting, drydocking or repair of ships or vessels, and water, air and rail terminals, and roadways and approaches thereto, and other structures and facilities needful for the convenient use of the same in the aid of commerce, including the dredging, deepening, extending, widening, or enlarging of any ports, harbors, rivers, channels, and waterways, the damming of inland waterways, the establishment of water basins, the acquisition and development of industrial sites and the reclaiming of submerged lands. For such purposes the board is vested with full jurisdiction and control of any and all lands lying within, adjacent to, or near any state-owned or operated ports, harbors, rivers, channels, and waterways, or natural lakes, which lands are below the mean high tide mark, and which lands are not within the jurisdiction of any other public body.