Georgia Ports Authority posts record TEUs in FY2017

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) logged a record 3.85 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in fiscal-year 2017, a 6.7 percent increase, or 242,221 more TEUs, over last year, the authority recently announced.

In the last half of FY2017, the Port of Savannah moved 1.99 million TEUs for a growth rate of 11.6 percent over the same period in FY2016, according to a GPA press release.

Also this month, the GPA's board approved $72.75 million for the purchase of six new Neopanamax ship-to-shore cranes.

"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 percent."

The new cranes will arrive in 2020, and are in addition to a previous order of four cranes that will be operational in June 2018. The combined 10 additional cranes will bring the fleet to 36, able to move more than 1,300 containers per hour across a single dock, GPA officials said.