Savannah port makes room to stack containers as demand slows due to coronavirus

March 21, 2020 at 11:00 p.m. | Updated March 21, 2020 at 7:25 p.m.

by Associated Press

In this Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, an APL shipping container is lifted on to a vessel by a ship to shore crane at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah in Savannah, Ga. Georgia's seaports are reporting record cargo volumes that moved across their docks in the 2019 calendar year. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)
In this Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, an APL shipping container is lifted on to a vessel by a ship to shore crane at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah in Savannah, Ga. Georgia's seaports are reporting record cargo volumes that moved across their docks in the 2019 calendar year. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) - Georgia's largest port is making room to store more shipping containers

The Georgia Ports Authority announced Thursday that it will make room to stack more than 11,000 additional 20-foot equivalent units by mid-April at the Port of Savannah. That's how cargo containers are typically measured.

Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said in a news release that shippers need room to stack their cargo until demand returns following the coronavirus.

"With these new container stack areas, Savannah is delivering the flexibility our customers need," Lynch said.

The additions will increase the Port of Savannah's annual container capacity by 400,000 units, giving it a total capacity of 6 million units per year.

The Port of Savannah handled 8.5% of U.S. containerized cargo volume and 10 percent of all U.S. containerized exports in the 2017 budget year.

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