Georgia Ports Authority

Georgia Ports Authority is “all-in” on building the best gateway for U.S. supply chains.

GPA’s $1.9-billion master plan will increase the Port of Savannah’s annual capacity to 10 million twenty-foot equivalent container units per year by 2026. No other gateway terminal in the U.S. has the ability to scale up like the Port of Savannah.

Favorable market

Domestic and global shifts are driving business to the Port of Savannah:

• The population of the U.S. Southeast has grown by 9 percent since 2012, adding 6.5 million people and increasing consumer demand.
• The growing workforce in the U.S. Southeast has also resulted in a manufacturing shift to the region, with major brands establishing a presence.
• Source shifting in Southeast Asia—as customers and ocean carriers respond to a “China plus one” trend—also favors U.S. East Coast delivery. Southeast Asia shipping routes to the U.S. East Coast via the Suez Canal are five days faster than from Southeast Asia to the U.S. West Coast.

Better connections

Georgia Ports provides one of the nation’s best-connected port operations, with 35 weekly container ship services, additional terminal capacity and land available in Georgia to attract new business. Inland connectivity is a GPA growth strategy, with 75 percent of the U.S. population within a 3- to 4-day rail trip from the Port of Savannah.

Infrastructure Projects

Savannah Transload Facility: Now open, just upriver of the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal. The 300,000 square-foot facility moves goods from containers to over-the-road trailers for faster order fulfillment.

Mason Mega Rail Terminal: Now open. Delivers 24 miles of track on 85 acres for the largest marine terminal rail facility in North America. GPA’s state-of-the-art intermodal service allows ocean carriers to offer customers through-rates to more inland markets from their first port of call, streamlining the logistics process.

Garden City Terminal West: New, long-term storage yard will add 100 acres and 1 million TEUs of annual capacity adjacent to the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal proper. Slated for completion in phases in 2023 and 2024.

Ocean Terminal: Berth and container yard renovations are under way at Savannah’s 200-acre Ocean Terminal to serve two large container ships simultaneously and offer 2 million TEU annual capacity. Renovations to the first berth will be completed in January 2025, with the second completed in June 2026.

Blue Ridge Connector: Inland rail terminal anticipated to open in 2026. The 104-acre location was chosen for its Norfolk Southern rail connections. The Northeast Georgia facility will offer direct access to I-985. Less than 20 miles from I-85.

Savannah Container Terminal: To ensure ample capacity, the GPA plans to build a new container terminal on Hutchinson Island, in the Savannah River. Annual capacity is expected to be 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent container units.