Several infrastructure projects are under way to double capacity at the Garden City Terminal in Savannah to 6.5m teu by 2018 within its 1,200 acre footprint.   

“The GPA is making almost $1.4bn in capital investments in preparation for future growth,” says a spokeswoman. “Projects include the Savannah Harbour deepening project, intermodal and gate projects, berth refurbishments, installation of refrigerated racks and wash pad area, equipment acquisitions and ‘Last Mile’ projects.”

The Garden City Terminal handled 2.61m teu last year, an increase of 0.4% on 2007, while the Ocean Terminal, also at Savannah, saw volumes of breakbulk, ro-ro, containers, heavy lift and project cargo drop by 6% to 1.5m tonnes.

At the Port of Brunswick, breakbulk forest products at the Mayor’s Point Terminal were down 5% to 140,560 tonnes, while Colonel’s Island Terminal saw bulks and breakbulks up 15% to 1.58m tonnes, but auto/machinery units down 2% to 360,044.

“Total US containerised trade for February 2009 year-on-year was down 30%, following a 20% decline in January,” says the GPA. “All of the top ranking ports, including Savannah, saw double-digit declines during February. Nevertheless, the Port of Savannah remains the fourth busiest container port in the US.”

Savannah gained five new services in 2008 and many new services have either begun or are expected to begin this year. “Amid rapid declines in global trade, many ocean carriers are consolidating and eliminating vessel strings to meet lower demand levels. In an effort to reduce cost, GPA has been working with our customers to look at ways to improve operational efficiencies to extract real savings."

Several infrastructure projects are under way at the Garden City Terminal, which is being transformed into a mainly rubber-tyred gantry crane (RTG) terminal; this will allow closer stacking and therefore increase capacity within the existing area. The stacks are also being moved from right angle to horizontal alignment to the berth, to increase operational efficiency.

Among other investments, the GPA opened the Chatham Intermodal Container Transfer Facility in January. Serviced by CSX Transportation, it is the second on-terminal ICTF at Garden City – the Mason ICTF, serviced by Norfolk Southern Railroad, opened in 2002.

“The competitive advantage of having two first class rail providers working on-terminal allows Savannah to present a compelling case for volumes moving inland to such locations as Chicago, St Louis, Memphis and Dallas,” says the port spokeswoman. “Savannah’s rail advantage allows the port to act as a land-bridge for the fast-growing volumes of the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia now moving via the Suez Canal to the East Coast.”

In March, the second phase of GPA’s refrigerated container racks project was completed – the terminal now has 34 electrically powered reefer container racks offering 816 slots. There are nine phases in this project, which will reduce the use of diesel-powered generators, improve safety and create space by stacking reefer boxes instead of storing them on chassis, says the GPA.

All GPA’s investments are intended to maintain and improve service levels as well as efficiencies, says the port authority. “As a result, GPA and the southeast US are positioned for a very strong rebound.”