Georgia Ports moved a record-breaking 519,000 container units in the month of May, increasing their overall volume by 8.5%.
Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Griff Lynch said the influx of business at the Port of Savannah exceeded that of a previous spike last fall and can be attributed in part to vessels diverting to Savannah from other East and West Coast ports.
The port can accommodate the increased capacity due to infrastructure improvements such as expansions on container handling space. When completed, these developments will add up to 1 million TEUs of annual container capacity to the Garden City Terminal near Savannah.
Georgia’s deep-water ports and inland barge terminals provide more than 496,700 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $3.4 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy, according to port officials.