The Port of Savannah achieve a record of 4.5 million TEU container units in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, experiencing an increase of more than 305,000 TEUs or 7.3%. Governor Brian Kemp applauded all men and women who work through out the supply chain.
It’s the first time ever that GPA handled more than a million container lifts to rail, achieving a rise of 16.6%, or more than 72,000. The 506,707 intermodal boxes constituted more than 20% of total containers, another record.
Governor Brian Kemp added
Because of their commitment, our factories, farms and logistics providers are creating opportunity and prosperity in every corner of our state.
The port will see an increase in its container handling in 2021, when the Mason Mega Rail project begins operations. It is expected that the facility will double Savannah’s rail capacity and create the largest on-terminal intermodal facility in North America.
Will McKnight, GPA’s Board Chairman stated that the first phase of the project will be complete in 2019, cutting rail transit time to Midwestern markets by 24 hours. Similarly, Griff Lynch, GPA’s Executive Director added that the rail cargo is expanding at twice the rate of the overall container trade, reducing traffic congestion on the highways and also increasing Georgia’s reach to a mid-American arc of cities, including Chicago, St. Louis and Columbus, Ohio.
Moreover, at GPA’s main port, Port of Brunswick, saw 613,680 autos and machinery units passing by, whereas ro-ro cargo rose by 4% at Colonel’s Island in FY2019. Ocean Terminal in Savannah added another 35,884 vehicles for a total of nearly 650,000 units moved through Georgia’s ports.
In light of the above, Lynch added
Brunswick’s proximity to dealerships across the region, the ease of doing business in Georgia and the room to grow at Colonel’s Island are a winning combinatio. No other Ro/Ro port in the nation can match Brunswick’s 400 acres of expansion space.
In the meantime, at East River Terminal in Brunswick, terminal operator Logistec moved 1.2 million tons of bulk cargo in FY2019, an increase of 203,000 tons, or 20%. The improvement was largely associated with an increase in wood pellets, peanut pellets and perlite.
At GPA’s Garden City Terminal, the nation’s third busiest container gateway, a $12.4 million project to construct four new container rows will increase annual capacity by approximately 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units.
In general, the port is seeing a steady growth, as the Big Berth/Big Ship program is expected to allow the Port of Savannah to simultaneously handle six 14,000 TEU vessels by 2024.
