THE Port of Savannah's container business increased 18 per cent year on year in July as the port worked overtime to cope with the extra volume, reports Fort Lauderdale's Maritime Executive.
Last year was the port's best ever for container volume, and it has exceeded its record-breaking 2021 performance increasing by seven percent 2021's year-to-date figures.
Import volume has more than doubled since before the pandemic, according to Georgia Ports Authority executive director Griff Lynch.
"The Port of Savannah has clearly become a preferred east coast gateway for shippers globally, including cargo diverted from the US west coast," said Mr Lynch.
To accommodate the extra traffic, GPA accelerated the construction of a US$34 million container yard earlier this year. Last week, it extended gate hours to 0400 to 2100, adding two extra hours on to the early-morning shift.
This has been popular with truckers, the port says, and the new time slot drew in 3,000 gate transactions over the course of the first week. For context, the port's gate operations averaged 15,000 truck moves per weekday in July, including both import and export transactions.
GPA is also investing heavily in expanding capacity. It has eight new ship-to-shore cranes on order, and a new berth at Garden City Terminal is on track for completion by July 2023.
The improved berth will add 1.4 million TEU of berth capacity, and the nearby Garden City Terminal West project will add another one million TEU of yard capacity in 2023-24.
While GPA is planning for long term growth, Mr Lynch told the Wall Street Journal that the port also expects a slowdown towards the end of 2022, driven by the impact of inflation on consumer spending.
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