Port of Savannah sees fourth-busiest October

November 17, 2023

The Port of Savannah experienced its fourth-busiest October last month, the Georgia Ports Authority said Friday.

The port handled 449,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units last month, GPA said. Although that is down 22% from October 2022, last month’s volumes were 5% higher than pre-pandemic October 2019.

Contributing to the volume increase was the fact that the berths at the Garden City Terminal are now all open, increasing the Port of Savannah’s capacity to handle ships. The port can now host 35 weekly vessel calls, according to GPA.

The Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal handled 129 container ship calls in October, which GPA says is 26% higher than in October 2022.

“For the first time in two and a half years, all berths are open at Garden City Terminal for faster, more efficient cargo handling,” GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch said in a release.

At Garden City Terminal, containers moved by rail rose by 9% to 47,750, while at the inland Appalachian Regional Port in Crandall, Georgia, rail cargo increased by 22% year over year, making a record October for that facility.

Since the start of GPA’s 2024 fiscal year on July 1, the Port of Savannah has handled 18% fewer volumes than in the same period in 2023, which had been “some of the busiest months in GPA history,” GPA said. Volume handled fiscal year to date through October was 1.7 million TEUs.

Meanwhile, roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) cargo in October was down on a year-to-year basis but up fiscal year to date. GPA handled 67,500 units of autos and machinery last month, a 5.8% decrease from October 2022. But looking at volumes on a fiscal year-to-date basis, volumes were up 17% to 271,364 Ro/Ro units.

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