Georgia Plans to Expand Port of Savannah’s Capacity for Cargo Containers by More Than 50% by 2025

The countries 4th busiest container port, Port of Savannah, has received $410M to upgrade their facilities to handle the immense amount of growth they have been facing the last two years

Georgia Port Authority will be shifting the majority of its breakbulk cargo from Port of Savannah to the Colonel’s Island Terminal at the Port of Brunswick. This is in effort to have the port of Savanah center their focus on container movement.

This project will begin as early as January 2023 and is expected to wrap up in 2026. The 200-acre facility will be remodeled in two phases. The current docks will be rebuilt to 2,800 linear feet of berth space which will be able to serve two big ships at the same time with the help of 8 new ship to shore cranes. In addition, they will also be expanding their gate facilities which will ultimately lead them to handle 1.5 million TEUs of annual capacity.

From 2020 to 2021 the Port of Savannah had a 20% increase in TEU movement, moving a grand total of 5.6 million TEUs. So far in 2022, they have continued to see record breaking numbers.

“For nearly 40 years, Ocean Terminal has been handling a mix of container ships and breakbulk vessels. The realignment is part of a broader effort to transform the terminal into an all-container operation, shifting most breakbulk cargo to the Port of Brunswick,” said Griff Lynch, executive director of Georgia port authority. “Completion of this project will improve our flexibility and allow Georgia Ports to optimize cargo movement, supporting our customers in delivering goods to market efficiently.”