The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) continues to expand its capacity at the Port of Savannah while seeing a downward trend in the amount of containers stuck on terminal, indicating a gradual relief of the supply chain backlog.
At its Monday board meeting, GPA officials detailed expediting the completion of 1.6 million twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) in annual capacity, which will come online by June 2022 as part of the long-term Peak Capacity Project. The GPA board also approved a $24.4 million purchase of nine electric-powered rubber-tired gantry cranes that will help support the expansion.
"The actual on-terminal projects are being done more quickly," explained GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. "We have talked to the contractors and asked them to kind of move along a little bit faster than they were ... so they're implementing much more pressure on getting those projects done."
The TEU expansion will increase total capacity by 25%, resulting in over 7 million TEUs of annual container space at the ports.
By January, GPA will open 670,000 TEUs of new annual capacity at Garden City Terminal. In early March, 155,000 TEUs of additional terminal capacity will be available, and by June another 850,000 TEUs will come online at the port.
Meanwhile, the South Atlantic Supply Chain Relief Program that is facilitating the opening of off-terminal "pop-up" container yards across the Southeast is underway and will increase capacity by another half-million TEUs.
Pop-up container yards in West Savannah's Norfolk Southern's Dillard Yard and Atlanta's CSX Hulsey Yard have begun to open already. All eight yards will be ready by the end of the year, according to Lynch. The container yards' proximity to manufacturing and distribution centers will help reduce truck traffic at the ports by bringing cargo directly to customers.
The new Atlanta yard, for example, will eliminate more than 500 round-trip truck miles per box, with anticipated volumes of 1,200 containers a month, the GPA projects
The addition of nine new Mason Mega Rail Tracks last month is also alleviating the container stockpile by increasing intermodal capacity to and from the ports.
“By expediting the projects needed to ensure the free flow of cargo, we’re addressing our customers’ concerns today, and working to re-establish our longtime practice of keeping capacity 20 percent above current demand," said GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten.
Supply chain sees continued relief
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
Credit: Richard Burkhart/Savannah Morning News
The Port of Savannah is already seeing significant relief in its backlog, according to Lynch. The total number of containers on terminal saw a 22% reduction from its peak earlier in the fall.
The current number of cargo is in the 66,000 to 67,000 range, said Lynch, as opposed to 85,000.
The number of ships at anchor has also decreased from a high of 25 in September to around 13 in recent weeks.
"It's going to go up and down a little bit, but as long as it keeps trending down over each week, that's the key," said Lynch.
However, the GPA expects to see the logjam to continue into early next year as ports across the nation and around the globe work out their own issues with capacity and mobility.
Long-term GPA projects underway
Credit: GEORGIA PORTS AUTHORITY
Credit: GEORGIA PORTS AUTHORITY
Ongoing projects are also trudging along at the Port of Savannah. That includes the Savannah Harbor Expansion Program (SHEP), a deepening of the Savannah River so that larger ships can call on the ports. The project is slated for completion in March 2022, Lynch announced at the board meeting.
Berth 1 renovations at the Garden City terminal, which will add another 1 million TEUs of annual capacity, is more than 25% complete.
Further into the future is a new terminal on Hutchinson Island, the plans of which were announced in 2019. The project is slated for completion in the latter part of the decade. Lynch said the project is still in its early stages and still has to go through the permitting process.
"The projects that we're implementing now and fast-forwarding are meant to keep our capacity available, so that when we do a major development like Hutchinson Island, it will come online as the need and demand warrants," said Wooten.
Other short-term goals include hiring more full-time employees to reduce the amount of overtime current employees are working. Lynch said the overtime is at a 32.4% high.
"Considering we had a record month, the number is trending in the right direction, " said Lynch, "We'll continue to hire, we want that overtime level to be in the 10% to 15% range."
In October, a total of 504,350 TEUs crossed the Port of Savannah's docks, surpassing a previous record in March and marking a year-over-year increase of 8.7%.
"Our job is to identify the near-term, the mid-term and long-term opportunities and order those in priority," said Wooten.
The Port of Savannah is one of the fastest growing ports in the nation and is home to the largest single-terminal container facility, the Garden City terminal. Where that growth is headed is an ever-present question for surrounding businesses and residents.
Lynch said the GPA doesn't have plans on expanding into residential areas, but its project of focus for the coming years will be capitalizing on its largest terminal.
"That's something that we really want to kind of continue to focus on; we think it's our greatest strength," said Lynch.
Nancy Guan is the general assignment reporter covering Chatham County municipalities. Reach her at nguan@gannett.com or on Twitter @nancyguann.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Ports Authority to expand container capacity even as supply chain pressures ease
