Major Expansion Announced for Port of Savannah

The head of the Georgia Ports Authority has announced a major new expansion project at the Port of Savannah which will expand the port’s capacity by more than 20 percent over next five years.

GPA’s executive director Griff Lynch laid out the plans at the Georgia Foreign Trade Conference on Tuesday, announcing the acquisition of new 145 acres of land at the Port of Savannah, which will add more than 1 million TEU in annual capacity, according to Lynch.

During his presentation, Lynch also announced that Garden City Terminal dock construction had been completed, and can now serve three 14,000-TEU vessels, and up to eight vessels simultaneously.

The improved dock and additional container yard space are part of a larger blueprint to increase the GPA’s capacity to more than 9 million TEUs by 2030. By 2023, the GPA will add an additional berth, for a total of four “big ship” vessel slots.

“As the Georgia Ports Authority enters its 75th year, we are proud to follow in the tradition of those who came before us, making exciting advances in capacity and technology to ensure our terminals remain at the forefront of global commerce,” Lynch said. “This is the largest addition of container terminal space in Savannah in more than 20 years, and represents a powerful opportunity for Georgia to take on new trade.”

The new Savannah Container Terminal will be a nearly 200-acre facility built on Hutchinson Island, which will a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs when fully developed. Phase I is projected to come online in 2025.

In 2019, the Port of Savannah moved a record 4.6 million TEU for an increase of 5.6 percent compared to 2018.