Port of Savannah sees strong volume growth in February

The United States East Coast port handled 307,035 TEUs for the month, an 8 percent increase compared with February 2015.    The Port of Savannah handled 307,035 TEUs in February, an 8 percent year-over-year increase and a 23 percent surge from February 2014, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said.
   Since the start of FY2016 on July 1, 2016 through February, the Port of Savannah handled 2.41 million TEUs, a 3.6 percent year-over-year increase.
   “Efficient access to market, proximity to major Southeast populations and GPA’s ability to quickly expand on-terminal container capacity are a few of the reasons for Savannah’s continued success,” GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz said.
   The Port of Savannah is the third busiest port in the United States for the export of containerized goods, following only Houston and Los Angeles, GPA Board Chairman James Walters noted.
   According to BlueWater Reporting’s Port Dashboard tool, the port is frequented by 33 fully cellular container services that sail to regions outside of the East Coast of North America.
   In January, GPA’s board of commissioners approved the purchase of four new ship-to-shore-cranes from Konecranes, for the Port of Savannah’s only container terminal, the Garden City Terminal. These cranes are expected to arrive in late spring 2018. The terminal is currently equipped with 22 ship-to-shore cranes and is adding four previously purchased ship-to-shore cranes this year.