NORTH AMERICA

Major US infrastructure investment

5 years ago

Capital improvement projects have been approved at a US port that will increase container capacity by 20%.

The Georgia Ports Authority Board has approved projects to increase annual capacity at the Port of Savannah beyond 6m TEUs. In 2020, the Port of Savannah handled 4.7m TEUs of cargo.

“Right now, we are moving container volumes that we did not expect to see for another four years,” said GPA executive director, Griff Lynch. He added that GPA is “expediting capacity projects that will increase the speed and fluidity of cargo handling at the Port of Savannah”.

Peak Capacity project

The board approved a terminal enhancement dubbed the Peak Capacity project, which will establish 2,100 new grounded container slots. The project will add 650,000 TEU container units of annual container yard capacity in two phases, with the first opening in September.

In addition to the Peak Capacity project, the board approved a Berth 1 renovation that will increase berth capacity by an estimated 1m TEUs per year by June 2023. This will bring Garden City Terminal’s new total to 6m TEUs of annual berth capacity.

STS cranes

In other projects aimed at increasing Savannah’s big ship capability, the GPA Board approved in November the purchase of eight new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes. The new machines will replace six older STS models, bringing Savannah’s fleet to 38. The eight taller cranes will arrive in 2023, allowing Garden City Terminal to serve more 15,000+ TEU vessels. Savannah’s harbour deepening, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, will reach substantial completion by the end of Calendar Year 2021, providing greater scheduling flexibility for vessel transit.

The GPA Board has also approved the purchase of 20 new rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes. The new RTGs will be tall enough to stand over six containers, one higher than Savannah’s older RTGs, allowing for additional capacity in the same terminal footprint.

On 22 Feb, an expanded container operation came online at Savannah’s Ocean Terminal, bringing annual capacity there to 250,000 TEUs.

GPA has received a permit from the Corps of Engineers to develop a fourth berth for Ro/Ro cargo at Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick. The project, currently in the engineering phase, will provide increased speed and flexibility in auto processing.