Savannah port handles record freight shipments
The Georgia Ports Authority handled 333,006 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in April, an increase of 11.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Across all ports, GPA’s total tonnage increased by 13 percent to reach 2.94 million tons and the Authority’s busiest April ever.
“Savannah has established itself as a premier gateway serving the Eastern United States,” said Griff Lynch, GPA’s executive director. “Our team is not only keeping pace with record volumes, but has managed to set new industry standards in cargo velocity, berth productivity and congestion free gates.”
Lynch cited the recent visit of the COSCO Development, the first 13,000-TEU vessel to call the U.S. East Coast, as an example. During the 30 hours the vessel was in dock, six cranes moved more than 9,700 TEUs on and off the vessel, with a net berth productivity of 220 boxes per hour.
In the first four months of 2017, total shipments at the Savannah port were up 10.2 percent over a year ago.