Page 1: Global Trade

Page 2: Juggernaut Created

Page 3: Cargo Owners Wooed

Page 4: Brunswick also Prospers

Juggernaut Created

Through a combination of visionary leadership and unwavering state support, GPA has created a juggernaut of efficient global trade, with Garden City Terminal on the Savannah River now the third-busiest gateway in the country for containerized trade, behind only the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York/New Jersey.

Indeed, Garden City Terminal officially opened for business in 1953, boasting four general cargo berths, two 35-ton gantry cranes, three transit sheds and a tanker berth. By the end of that year, the terminal had handled more than 200,000 tons of cargo and serviced 46 vessels.

Dockworkers load lumber into the hold of a vessel at the Port of Savannah in 1955, prior to the advent of containerization.
Dockworkers load lumber into the hold of a vessel at the Port of Savannah in 1955, prior to the advent of containerization.

In the mid-1960s, Savannah began to experience the biggest and most sweeping revolution in modern shipping as the first containerized cargo arrived on GPA docks. Recognizing the sea change to come, GPA leadership began construction of the first container berth at Garden City Terminal.

By 1970, Savannah was ranked sixth among U.S. ports. Two years later, Container Berth 1 opened with container service from Japan. A new era in shipping had begun, and plans were immediately made for a second container berth.

A mobile harbor crane is used to load long wooden poles onto a ship at the Port of Savannah in 1965.
A mobile harbor crane is used to load long wooden poles onto a ship at the Port of Savannah in 1965.

The turn of the century marked several major milestones, including a West Coast dock strike that diverted significant cargo volumes to the East Coast, where Savannah was ready and waiting. Garden City Terminal’s efficient handling of that extra cargo convinced many West Coast shippers to make the diversion permanent.