The port emphasised that the acquisition is “145 contiguous acres to the Port of Savannah. It does not include any additional berthing space, but the extra yard capacity and backlands will support 1M TEU a year in additional throughput. “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,” said Griff Lynch, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA).

As part of its expansion, the GPA is improving its quayside by realigning berths 1-3 at the Garden City terminal. The berths are currently offset at less than 180 degrees to the adjacent quay line, and a strait continuous berth will give the GPA another “big ship” berth. Currently it can berth three 14,000-TEU vessels, and up to eight vessels simultaneously. When the realignment is completed by 2023 Garden City will be able to accommodate four 14,000 TEU ships at the same time. The permitting process is now underway.

The expansion is a separate development to the planned Savannah Container Terminal, a nearly 200-acre facility the GPA wants to build across the river on Hutchinson Island. Phase I of this terminal is projected to come online in 2025, and the GPA estimates it will add another 2.5M TEU capacity when fully completed.

As part of its plan to increase capacity at existing terminals to more than 9M TEU by 2030, the GPA is also converting its Ocean Terminal to a partial container operation. Ocean Terminal will have 1 STS crane, two mobile harbour cranes and an RTG yard. It will also be supported by a separate storage area with two or three RTGs, and new truck gates.

Ocean Terminal is located just downriver from the main container port at Garden City terminal, and will be able to handle vessels up to 2,500 TEU. Phase I of the Ocean Terminal container yard is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. When completed Ocean Terminal will be able to handle approximately 200,000 TEU. “This exciting new development will allow the GPA to continue to meet and exceed the needs of our customers,” Lynch said.

Ocean Terminal currently handles about 5% of the GPA’s automotive business.  To provide an extra vehicle handling and storage area the GPA is paving around 9 acres of vacant land.

The Ocean Terminal redevelopment. The green area at the top is Ocean Terminal, the green area in the middle is the additional container yard area, which will have two or three RTGs. The green the area at the bottom near Louisville Rd will be paved for auto storage.