GPA Invests $540M to Handle Skyrocketing Box Volume at Savannah

The Port of Savannah’s container volume continues to skyrocket as shippers look for alternatives to congested West Coast hubs, and the Georgia Ports Authority is moving up its investment plans to accommodate the increased demand.

The port's volume grew by nearly 18 percent in February, extending its run of year-over-year increases to 19 consecutive months. The port moved 460,000 TEU in February, an increase of nearly 70,000 TEU over the same period last year. 

In expectation of further growth to come, the board of the Georgia Ports Authority has voted to speed up $538 million in capacity expansion projects that it had expected to undertake years from now. This single investment is equal to a third of the total capital that GPA has spent on its infrastructure over the past decade. 
 
“Today’s action by the board will result in an unprecedented expansion,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch in a statement. “This growth plan is part of an overall strategy to enhance operations [and] accommodate increased demand.”

With the accelerated plan, Georgia Ports will make major investments in both Brunswick and Savannah. These expansion projects will increase the Port of Savannah’s annual capacity from 6 million to 9.5 million TEU by 2025.

The board green-lighted the Garden City Terminal West expansion, which adds 90 acres of container storage, a truck gate and more rubber-tired gantry cranes to serve the existing Garden City Terminal. The development will increase the Port of Savannah’s annual capacity by 1 million TEU in 2023-24.

GPA will also add a truck gate and access road to link Garden City Terminal to another 90-acre parcel just upriver, where it is building a transloading facility with a cross-docking warehouse. The facility should be complete by April 2023.

The board also agreed to order seven new STS cranes for the Port of Savannah. This will bring Savannah’s crane fleet to 42.

Expected cost of the projects approved Tuesday equate to 33 percent of the $1.6 billion GPA spent on new infrastructure over the past 10 years. The growth will be funded through a combination of bonds and internal GPA capital.

“With the completion of the Savannah Harbor deepening, we have the water depth to more easily accommodate big ships,” Lynch said. “Our current projects will complement the harbor expansion by giving us the landside capacity we need to handle larger container volumes.”
 
GPA will also develop 85 acres for vehicle processing facilities at the Port of Brunswick. The new pavement and buildings will be complete in 2023, significantly increasing capacity for the leading ro/ro port.