ATLANTA – The Port of Savannah set a record for containerized cargo traffic last month, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Tuesday.
The port moved 479,850 twenty-foot equivalent container units in February, a 6% increase over the same month last year.
Dual container moves, with drivers delivering an export and picking up an import container, accounted for 85% of Savannah’s container business last month, adding overall efficiency.
Meanwhile, Gateway Terminals, which handles operating services for the ports authority, and the local International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) chapter have agreed to further increase efficiency by adding three new start times to work cargo vessels – at 6 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m.
“This will make a big difference in turning ships around faster,” said Griff Lynch, the ports authority’s president and CEO. “With a total of eight start times and our 24-hour vessel service, crane operators and crews form the ILA will start moving containers on and off ships more quickly, reducing vessel time at dock.”
The Port of Savannah, which currently averages 35 vessels per week, will also increase vessel capacity with a new lay berth at the Ocean Terminal coming online in May. A second lay berth is due to begin operating in the middle of next year.
The Port of Savannah wasn’t the only ports authority operation to set a record in February. The authority’s intermodal team set a new record Feb. 28 with 2,246 rail lifts in a 24-hour period.
The only down side came at the Port of Brunswick, where Roll-on/Roll-off cargo last month declined by 10% – or 6,882 units -compared to February of last year