Record container traffic for Georgia ports in FY2017; six more cranes on order

The Georgia Ports Authority reported record results in fiscal 2017, and will purchase six new ship-to-shore cranes to handle increasing container traffic.

The ports moved an all-time high 3.85 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in FY2017, an increase of 6.7%, or 242,221 TEUs over the previous year. In the second half of FY2017 alone, the Port of Savannah moved 1.99 million TEUs, up 11.6% on-year.

“Our volume growth continues to outpace forecasted demand,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “Shipping lines are moving 13,000- and 14,000-TEU vessels into service on the East Coast more quickly than anticipated, and concentrating their deliveries at efficient gateway ports like Savannah. This new crane purchase, along with the four already on order, will enable GPA to increase crane capacity by nearly 40%.”

The record year was capped by the busiest June ever, as traffic grew 17% to 337,710 TEUs. In fiscal 2017 cargo totaled 33.4 million tons across all terminals, another record, up 8.3% from 2016.

At its July 17 meeting, the GPA board approved $72.75 million to purchase six more Neopanamax ship-to-shore cranes. The new cranes are scheduled for delivery in 2020, and are in addition to a previous order of four cranes that will be operational in June, 2018. That will bring the crane fleet to 36, with a working rate of more than 1,300 containers per hour across a single dock.