Posts Tagged “Georgia Port Authority”
Georgia Ports handled 494,261 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) last month, marking an increase of more than 45,000 TEUs, or 10%, according to a press release from Georgia Ports Authority (GPA).
It was the third busiest October on record for GPA, following 2021 and 2022, when more than half a million TEUs passed through the Port of Savannah.
Record-breaking trade at the Appalachian Regional Port also boosted GPA’s performance. The Northwest Georgia inland port recorded an October high of 3,666 rail lifts, a 4.4% increase compared to the previous year.
For the first four months of fiscal year 2025 (July 1, 2024–Oct. 31, 2024), GPA has moved 1.9 million TEUs, an increase of 211,320 TEUs, or 12%.
In the Roll-on/Roll-off (RoRo) segment, Colonel’s Island Terminal handled 68,569 units of autos and high/heavy machinery in October. For the fiscal year to date, RoRo units totaled 300,647, an increase of 10.6%.
Georgia Ports also secured a $46 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Ports Program grant in October to enhance its electrification infrastructure. The grant will support ships at berth by enabling them to plug into shore power, reducing the need for auxiliary diesel engines.
The grant also funds the replacement of diesel-powered terminal tractors with electric models and the installation of electric charging infrastructure. “These initiatives are designed to create positive impacts for the community and ensure we’re a good neighbor,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch.
Savannah, Georgia trails only New York City as an East Coast container port and ranks No. 4 nationally after Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, according to Datamyne and compiled by Bloomberg.
Now, the city, which as a modest population of 143,000, is opening another shipping market in the city’s emergence as a major trade hub with the Port of Savannah.
The Georgia Port Authority reports not only has Savannah been the fastest-growing port in the U.S. for the past 10 years, but it is now in a position to grow and become No. 1., something that was unfathomable a decade ago.
Ongoing improvements at the port are continuing to push it forward.
Bloomberg reports that the Port of Savannah’s September imports rose 21.7% compared to a 7% increase for New York. However, keep in mind that New York still imported nearly twice the cargo.
Of course, New York will always move large cargo volumes because of its massive consuming population.
One of the large selling points for Savannah is the port’s proximity to major expressways like I-20 and I-95. The port is currently working to deepen its waters to attract larger ships that may come through the expanded Panama Canal as well.