Port of Savannah handles 2.34 million TEU in fiscal 2006-07

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has announced that the Port of Savannah set new annual records for containers handled and total tonnage throughput during fiscal year 2006-07.

"In fiscal year 2007, the Port of Savannah handled 2.338 million TEU," said GPA chairman Stephen Green. "This is an impressive 14.5 per cent increase over last year and clearly establishes Savannah as a gateway for American commerce."

The Port of Brunswick also experienced significant gains. "Our Colonel's Island facility," said Mr. Green, "handled a record 1.245 million tons, a 10 per cent increase over the previous year. Gains were dramatic in bulk commodities with 438,671 tons moving through the facility, a 41.1 per cent increase over the previous year."

The GPA said it is continuing to move forward with its US$1.2 billion capital investment programme and that developments were on track to triple container capacity at Savannah and more than double the number of automobiles handled at the Port of Brunswick.

Said GPA executive director Doug Marchand: "Georgia continues to attract container volume faster than any other state. This is the result of strategic marketing, aggressive expansion and significant market share increases in trades like India, south and northeast Asia, Europe and the Mediterranean, further diversifying our portfolio of services."

During the last 10 years, containers have increased from 697,259 TEU in 1997 to 2,338,300 TEU in 2007, a 235 per cent increase. In the past five years, intermodal lifts have grown from 99,858 in 2002 to 235,448 this year, a 136 per cent increase.