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Port of Savannah handles record shipments in 2015

FILE- In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, the container ship Northern Javelin is worked by ship to shore cranes at the Port of Savannah in Savannah, Georgia. The top executive over Georgia's seaports in Savannah and Brunswick said Monday, May 18, 2015, that he expects another record-breaking fiscal year following a busy spring in which East Coast ports benefited from a labor dispute on the West Coast. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File) FILE- In this Oct. 8, 2014 file photo, the container ship Northern Javelin is worked by ship to shore cranes at the Port of Savannah in Savannah, Georgia. The top executive over Georgia's seaports in Savannah and Brunswick said Monday, May 18, 2015, that he expects another record-breaking fiscal year following a busy spring in which East Coast ports benefited from a labor dispute on the West Coast. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

By Staff Report January 25, 2016 1 min read

The Georgia Ports Authority achieved record container volumes in 2015 as shipments in the Southeast continued to grow last year.

GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz said today that the Port of Savannah boosted its handling of 20-foot equivalent container units by 11.3 percent to 3.73 million last year.

“The expansion was fueled in part by heightened demand in the U.S. Southeast, Savannah’s logistical advantages drawing new customers to Georgia, and cargo diverted from the West Coast,” Foltz told the port authority board today.

Total tonnage across all terminals reached a record 31.48 million tons in 2015, an increase of 1.09 million tons, or 3.6 percent. Container tonnage accounted for most of that growth, adding 991,031 tons (up 4 percent), for a total of 25.81 million tons. Bulk cargo added 60,705 tons (up 2.2 percent) to reach 2.86 million, while bulk cargo grew 1.7 percent, or 47,358 tons, to reach 2.79 million tons.