The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) said on September 29 that its $1.6 billion redevelopment of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal was more than 60 per cent complete.
According to the authority, annual container capacity at the 200-acre (81-hectare) terminal is projected to rise from 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) to 1.75 million TEU under the project.
“The renovated berth is fully completed and ready for big ships,” GPA CEO Griff Lynch said at the authority’s board meeting on September 29.
The 2,650-foot (808-metre) berth can accommodate two large vessels simultaneously. GPA will continue to handle smaller vessels at Ocean Terminal through mid-fall 2027, when the first phase of container-yard work is complete. The entire yard is scheduled for completion by the end of 2028.
The terminal’s truck gate is now in full operation; plans call for 12 inbound and six outbound lanes, the authority said.
A port-funded overpass costing $29 million routes departing trucks onto US 17 and Interstate 16, away from neighbourhood streets.
GPA said the work forms part of its port master plan. Over the coming 10 years, the authority intends to put $5 billion into capacity enhancements, with five container berths in Savannah and one roll-on/roll-off berth in Brunswick among the planned additions.
Ocean Terminal can also serve as a lay berth for vessels waiting to work at Garden City Terminal, Savannah’s larger container facility. Ships dock temporarily at Ocean Terminal before moving to Garden City when a berth becomes available.
GPA said CCNI Arauco, the first vessel to use the arrangement, was able to begin work 12 hours earlier than it would have without the staging option.
The authority said the arrangement could enable it to handle two more ships each week and cut the time berths sit idle from 12–15 hours to three hours.
Savannah’s separate harbour deepening project was completed in 2022, bringing the shipping channel to 47 feet (14.3 metres) at mean low water.
The deeper channel provided access for vessels carrying more than 16,000 TEU and reduced tidal restrictions.