The Georgia Ports Authority has received approval for a new container terminal capable of handling 3.5 million TEUs from the US Army Corps of Engineers, according to an October 14 press release. The 2.3 billion dollar Savannah Container Terminal will span 350 acres, with construction set to start in January 2028 and completion in the mid 2030s. The new terminal will turn the Port of Savannah into a 12 million TEU gateway container port.
The terminal is part of the authority’s long term infrastructure programme: over the past 10 years the GPA board has approved 4.13 billion dollars in infrastructure improvements, including a new inland port in Gainesville, Georgia, to help manufacturers handle freight such as poultry, heavy equipment and forest products. “Our ten-year plan forecasts 55% growth in Georgia and the Southeast region,” Tom Boyd, the authority’s chief communications officer, told Supply Chain Dive. “We use this figure to identify the port infrastructure capacity necessary to service this container volume.”
The build out is already under way elsewhere in the port. Savannah is more than 60 percent through an expansion of its Ocean Terminal to handle 1.75 million TEUs a year, up from 200,000, with completion expected by the end of 2028. For shippers moving goods to markets such as Atlanta and Memphis, the port “provides a clear economic advantage compared to West Coast routes,” according to Chris Gaffney, managing director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech.