Georgia Ports Authority posts record throughput for FY2017

The port authority’s fiscal year 2017 saw a 6.7 percent volume increase compared to the year prior, with all cargo, including containerized cargo, reaching record fiscal year highs.    The Georgia Port Authority (GPA) reported a 6.7 increase in TEUs in its fiscal year 2017, which ended June 30, compared to the year prior.
   The 3.85 million TEUs handled in 2017 is an all-time high for GPA. The port authority also moved a record 33.4 million tons of cargo across all terminals, an 8.3 percent increase over FY2016.
   GPA finished the record setting fiscal year with a container throughput of 337,710 TEUs for the month of June, a 17 percent jump compared with June 2016. 
   The increase in container volumes has led the GPA board to approve a $72.75 million purchase of six more Neopanamax ship-to-shore cranes. The cranes are slated for a 2020 arrival, and are in addition to a previous order of four cranes that will be operational in June of next year, said GPA. 
   “We could not have achieved this record-breaking year without the hard work and outstanding dedication of our employees,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “Our volume growth continues to outpace forecasted demand.
   “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.”
   GPA has been breaking records left and right this year, with the port authority setting new highs for cargo volumes in January, April and May of 2017.