Six additional cranes will arrive in 2020 and the resulting 36 cranes will allow the container facility to move nearly 1,300 containers per hour. The Neo-Panamax cranes can lift containers 152 feet above the dock, with a lift capacity of 72 tons for each crane. The first crane will go into service in February. Two more will be commissioned in March, with the final crane going into service in April.
“These new cranes will prepare us for the next wave of growth for Georgia and the nation,” said Chief Operating Officer Ed McCarthy. “Today’s 15 percent increase in our crane fleet will help GPA stay ahead of the growth curve. Nearly two-thirds of the ships serving the Port of Savannah are Neo-Panamax vessels, and we expect the shipping lines to continue their shift toward larger vessels.”
McCarthy said the advantage of these new cranes will be multiplied by several other ongoing infrastructure improvements. One such project, the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, will double the Port of Savannah’s annual rail lift capacity to 1 million container lifts, and expand the port’s reach into the Midwest, said GPA.
