Port of Savannah breaks monthly record for containerized cargo

Caption

The additional trade is being driven in part by containerized cargo ships diverting to Savannah from other East Coast and West Coast ports.

Credit: Port of Savannah

The Port of Savannah moved an all-time high 519,390 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) last month, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) reported Wednesday.

That broke the previous record of 504,350 TEUs set last October and exceeded May of last year by 8.3%.

The additional trade is being driven in part by containerized cargo ships diverting to Savannah from other East Coast and West Coast ports, said Griff Lynch, the ports authority’s executive director.

“Strong consumer demand continues to drive higher volumes at the Port of Savannah,” Lynch said. “The infrastructure improvements and pop-up yards approved by the GPA board have enabled our operations to maintain the flow of cargo across our terminal, despite unprecedented container volumes passing through the port.”

By next month, the ports authority expects to have more than 7 million TEUs of annual capacity at Savannah’s Garden City Terminal, including 900,000 TEUs added recently and another 300,000 set to come online in July.

“By increasing container space at Garden City Terminal, GPA is accommodating the expansion in global commerce that supports job growth in Georgia,” board Chairman Joel Wooten said. “Industries from logistics to auto manufacturing, and agriculture to retail depend on Georgia’s ports for reliable supply chain solutions.”

In addition to containerized cargo, the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal and the Port of Brunswick combined to achieve a 28% increase in breakbulk cargo last month, including iron and steel, rubber, and forest products.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.