Savannah Harbor
ATLANTA – The Port of Savannah Tuesday reported a significant reduction in business last month compared to August of last year, when the Georgia Ports Authority enjoyed its busiest month on record.
Savannah handled 413,300 twenty-foot equivalent units of containerized cargo (TEUs) in August, down 28% from August of last year.
The drop-off resulted more from ongoing construction projects than economic factors, said Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority.
“We are in the midst of rebuilding some of our berths, which reduced our operating capacity in August,” he said.
Renovations at the Port of Savannah’s Container Berth 1 were completed last month, which will allow the Garden City Terminal to simultaneously serve seven ships. Altogether, berth capacity has increased by 1.5 million TEUs.
Meanwhile, the Savannah port is increasing its reliance on rail to move cargo. The Garden City Terminal handled 49,115 containers by rail in August, an increase of 6% over the same month a year ago.
Intermodal cargo represented 21.6% of total containers last month, up 7% compared to August 2022.
“With our Mason Mega Rail Terminal fully operational, we now have the capacity to shift more of our long-haul cargo off state highways and onto rail, which both improves fuel efficiency and reduces traffic congestion,” Lynch said.
The ports authority also saw an increase in Roll-on/Roll-off cargo in August, handling 61,300 units of autos and machinery during the month, an increase of 8% over August of last year. As usual, Colonel’s Island Terminal at the Port of Brunswick handled most of the Ro/Ro traffic, moving 59,720 units.