On the heels of reporting the second busiest month in its history, the Georgia Ports Authority Board announced that it approved more than US$34 million to help expedite an additional 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent container units in capacity that will begin coming online in December.

“In three months, this investment will begin to deliver the additional capacity we need to better accommodate increased volumes and demand for our services,” said Griff Lynch, executive director for the GPA.

In a statement, GPA said part of the approved expenditures included the purchase of 22.2 acres adjacent to GPA’s 145-acre West Expansion property.

Full completion by 2023

The board also provided funds to begin developing another 18 acres of land adjacent to GPA’s 60-acre Peak Capacity project, currently under construction. In total, the developments will add 230 acres of container handling space, coming online in phases with full completion in 2023.

“The GPA’s expansion strategy will not only maintain Savannah’s position as the hub port of the US Southeast, but strengthen its ability to drive economic growth and private investment for communities across Georgia,” said Joel Wooten, GPA’s chairman of the board.

“In light of unprecedented demand, it is incumbent on the Board to maintain our ports to promote job growth for the state,” Wooten added.

The Port of Savannah handled 485,595 TEUs in August, an increase of 10%, or 44,000 TEUs over the same month last year, which was the previous high for August.

GPA said it was the second busiest month in its history, after only March 2021, when Garden City Terminal handled 498,000 TEUs.

The Port of Savannah handled 9.3% of total US containerized cargo volume and 10.5% of all US containerized exports in FY 2020.