ATLANTA – The Port of Brunswick has supplanted Baltimore as the nation’s busiest port for autos and heavy equipment.
The Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick handled more than 2 million tons of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo last year, Griff Lynch, president and CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority, said Wednesday at the annual Brunswick State of the Port luncheon.
“This is an important milestone in our journey to be the best Ro/Ro port in the industry,” Lynch said.
Brunswick also took the top spot in the nation for Ro/Ro exports, moving 600,000 tons, according to USATradeonline.
The ports authority completed $262 million in improvements at the Port of Brunswick last year, adding new warehousing and processing space, as well as 122 acres of Ro/Ro cargo storage.
Construction has begun on a new railyard on Colonel’s Island, while a fourth berth for Ro/Ro cargo vessels is in the design phase.
Baltimore slipped behind Brunswick for handling Ro/Ro cargo after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last March when one of its supports was struck by a container ship that lost power leaving the Port of Baltimore. Six of eight workers who were making repairs on the bridge died in the collapse.
The Port of Baltimore didn’t resume full operations until June.