A backlog of vessels is building off Savannah, but the Georgia Ports Authority says it’s in a better position to handle the heavy volumes now than it was when delays hit last fall.
The only real option at present for rail cargo from China to Europe is the so-called “middle corridor,” even though the transit is often longer than ocean and 30 percent more expensive than the largely out-of-bounds northern alternative through Russia.
COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai may not result in a sudden flood of volumes to the US, but the GPA says additional storage capacity at Savannah’s Garden City Terminal and pop-up storage sites will allow it to handle any unexpected spikes.
The Port of Savannah has received more than half a billion dollars to grow its container and ro-ro capacity and provide options to importers and exporters to relieve pressure on the South Atlantic Chassis Pool.
A reconfigured chassis pool will launch in 2023 covering three Southeast US ports, aiming to replace an aging fleet with new and refurbished chassis containing the latest technology and safety features.
The Port of Savannah will compete dredging work within a couple weeks to deepen its harbor to 47 feet and expand storage capacity by 2.7 million TEU by 2024, the Georgia Ports Authority said Thursday.
The Port of Savannah has cleared the backlog of vessels outside its harbor and is considering developing additional pop-up storage sites outside Georgia to keep the port fluid in the coming months.
The Georgia Ports Authority will extend the use of pop-up storage sites another three months through April, citing the success of the off-site locations in whittling down the vessel backlog in Savannah.
The Georgia Ports Authority this week began moving import containers belonging to a US retailer to the spare runway at Statesboro Airport, which has been used to store empty boxes and loaded exports since December.
The number of vessels anchored outside Savannah has fallen to fewer than five, a significant improvement from September when the number was as high as 30.
With the number of anchored vessels already cut in half since September, the Port of Savannah is adding 400,000 TEU of capacity by Dec. 31 to the Garden City Terminal to further whittle down the backlog.