For GPA, Containers Up, Capacity Growing

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) handled nearly 5.6 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container units) in 2024, up 12.5% from 2023, making Savannah “the fastest growing container gateway on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts,” GPA reported Feb. 25. To handle growing business, GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch laid out plans during his State of the Port address to increase capacity in Savannah, add berth space over the short and long term, boost container yard and rail capacity, and grow truck gates at the Port of Savannah.

“Even in a challenging year, we still found a way to grow by 12.5%, and I think one conclusion we can draw here is that connectivity is key,” Lynch told an audience of more than 1,700 Georgia business leaders and elected officials, according to GPA. “It’s been an incredible year, considering the headwinds of the difficulties surrounding the Suez Canal and the extended labor contract negotiations. Our congratulations go to the International Longshoremen’s Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance for developing a six-year agreement with winners on both sides.”

The CSX– and Norfolk Southern-served Mason Mega Rail Terminal achieved record volumes in 2024, according to GPA. It moved 540,850 containers by train, up 5.7% or 29,000 containers from 2023. (Also serving the Terminal is Genesee & Wyoming’s Savannah Port Terminal Railroad, which was founded in 1998 to provide contracted rail intermodal and merchandise service, railcar switching and yardmaster services, and track inspection and maintenance to the Port of Savannah.)

GPS said the CSX-served Appalachian Regional Port in northwest Georgia also helped boost GPA performance, with an annual high of 37,840 rail lifts, up 8.3% over 2023.

“Savannah continued to lead the nation’s major ports in speed to rail in 2024, with containers connecting from vessel to departing train in just one day,” Lynch said. “When port users choose Savannah, their cargo reaches inland markets with greater speed and the kind of reliability customers can plan around. For rail cargo, we average 19 to 24 hours from vessel discharge to rail departure.”

For port customers, GPA noted, cargo velocity equals reduced inventory costs.

The NS-served Blue Ridge Connector (BRC), near Gainesville, Ga., is slated to open in 2026. Lynch said BRC is in one of Georgia’s fastest growing markets. Containers moving between BRC and the Port of Savannah by rail will avoid a 600-mile roundtrip by truck, according to GPA. The 104-acre facility, it said, will have a full capacity of 200,000 containers per year, which would avoid 120 million truck miles annually.

To stay ahead of demand, Lynch also announced during his address the opening of a new lay berth effective immediately at Ocean Terminal.

“While we’re renovating Ocean Terminal, we’re going to use the berth space there as a staging area for big ships,” Lynch said. “This will drastically reduce the transition time between large vessels departing and arriving, allow us to work two more big ships per week and add up to 1 million TEUs of extra capacity per year.”

A second lay berth at Ocean Terminal is expected to come online in 2026. Use of the staging area, GPA said, will decrease the time a berth is open and unused at Garden City Terminal from the current 12 hours down to three hours, for a 75% improvement in berth idle time.

Phase I of the Ocean Terminal yard renovation will be completed in mid-2027, with Phase II wrapping up by mid-2028, according to GPA, which said this will increase capacity by up to 1.5 million TEUs per year.

GPA reported that longer-term plans call for the Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island to open in Phase I by 2030, ultimately adding three additional big ship berths and 3.5 million TEUs of annual capacity in phases, based on demand. The facility is currently in the permitting phase, it said.

“With $4 billion in investments planned for Ocean Terminal and Savannah Container Terminal, Savannah will be a 12.5 million-TEU capacity port by 2035,” Lynch said.

Lynch also said the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is a key partner in ensuring freight mobility beyond the port terminal gates. It is reconstructing the interchange at I-16 and I-95 in Chatham County to increase operational efficiency and safety, and widening I-16 to relieve traffic congestion. Completion is expected this year.

Slated for completion in mid-2026 is the Brampton Road Connector, which GPA said will provide a direct link between Garden City Terminal’s gates and the interstate system. It includes a four-lane highway and state route spur to connect the Port of Savannah’s Gate 3 to SR 25, SR 21 and US 80.

Working in conjunction with GDOT, GPA said it is investing $29 million in an overpass at Ocean Terminal that will avoid truck traffic on local roads by connecting departing trucks directly to U.S. Route 17. The start of construction is planned for summer 2026.

2030 Outlook

GPA reported the following growth by 2030:

• Savannah On-Dock Rail

Today, Mason Mega Rail yard features 10 working tracks. Two more working tracks will be added at Ocean Terminal by 2028, and three are planned for Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island by 2030.

• Savannah Ship Berths

Plans call for the Port of Savannah to grow from seven berths now to 12 vessel berths over the next five years.

• Savannah Trucking Gates      

Counting improvements at Garden City Terminal and Ocean Terminal, as well as the planned development of the Savannah Container Terminal on Hutchinson Island, truck lanes at the Port of Savannah will grow from 53 lanes today to 100 lanes by 2030.

Further Reading:

• Port of Brunswick Takes Top Spot for Autos, Heavy Equipment
• GPA Lands $26.5MM Federal Grant for Colonel’s Island Rail Improvements Project
• GPA Approves $127MM for Blue Ridge Connector
• GPA Prepares for the Future, Adds Inland Rail Connectivity
• CSX, GPA Launch ‘Carolina Connector’ Service
• Georgia Ports Advances Inland Rail Hub Plan