Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) Chairman of the Board Steve Green announced today the GPA handled more than 2.6 million teus in fiscal year 2008, a 14.9% increase, setting a record for containers handled at the Port of Savannah. The GPA’s total tonnage for all terminal facilities, including Bainbridge, Brunswick, Columbus and Savannah surpassed 25.8 million tons, a 17.5% increase, which is also a record for the Authority.
“I would like to thank the men and women of the GPA and the entire maritime community for making this remarkable year of growth a reality,” said Green. “The commencement of the Savannah Harbor Deepening Project will help ensure our future success.”
For the first time in GPA’s history, the Port of Savannah’s total exports exceeded one million teus. “In addition to exporting more cargo than ever before to the Far East and Mediterranean we added significant new export market share to the India Subcontinent,” said Doug J. Marchand, GPA’s Executive Director.
Total teus exported to China surpassed 175,000, a 23.6% increase compared with the previous year, Marchand added. GPA exported more than 18,000 teus to the emerging market of India, two and a half times more than the previous fiscal year.
In Brunswick, the GPA surpassed 2.6 million tons, an eight-percent increase over the previous year. Colonel’s Island Terminal handled more than 1.6 million tons, a 29.4-percent increase. “The recently completed harbor deepening in Brunswick has allowed Georgia to realize new opportunities,” said Marchand.
Additionally, the Port of Brunswick posted its most successful year in the movement of bulk cargoes. GPA handled more than 800,000 tons of bulk cargoes at the Colonel’s Island Breakbulk Facility, an 85.6% increase.
