GPA Increases Container Traffic

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) increased containerized cargo in March by 27.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago, for an additional 72,499 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs).

For the first time ever, the Port of Savannah moved 333,058 TEUs in a single month, surpassing its previous monthly record set in October 2014 by more than 21,000 TEUs.

“We are moving record volumes while maintaining excellent service levels for our customers,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “Our March numbers have once again demonstrated the scale, flexibility and efficiency of the Garden City Terminal. Freight handling remained fluid, even with demand well above forecasts.”

Foltz added that the GPA is taking steps to increase capacity at Garden City Terminal, including construction of a new truck gate and the purchase of 30 rubber-tired gantry cranes, which will bring the total number to 146 RTGs.

In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last month awarded a $134.5 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company for deepening of the Savannah Harbor. The contract covers dredging of the outer harbor, from approximately Fort Pulaski for 18.5 miles into the Atlantic Ocean.

Dredging of the outer harbor is the first step to deepening the entire 40-mile shipping channel and harbor from deep ocean to the Georgia Ports Authority terminal in Garden City.

The deepening, officially known as the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, or SHEP, will enable larger container ships to call on Savannah with greater ease, heavier cargoes and fewer tidal restraints than they currently experience.