GPA container traffic dips, RoRo volumes hit new record
NewsGeorgia Ports experienced a 2.3% decrease in container traffic, while RoRo volumes reached a new record high.
GPA cargo up, containers down
Container throughput at the Georgia Ports Authority has dropped 4.5% in 2016, but the actual amount of cargo moving across its berths continues to grow.
In a statement GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch focused on the port’s performance in handling laden containers in the current fiscal year, a category that has grown 4% to just over 1M TEU, and a record loaded TEU count of 251,566 for the month of October.
At the same time, however, total container volume at Savannah this calendar year has fallen 4.5% due to a steep drop in the number of empty containers handled. The GPA noted that empty containers were down 17.6% to 252,307 TEU in the first four months of its fiscal year, while over the same period the port moved 8.9 million tons of containerised cargo, an increase of 3.6%.
The GPA continues to invest in new infrastructure, and its board has approved new spending on its Savannah Multimodal Connector and adding capacity at the Port of Brunswick.
The Savannah Multimodal Connector is a $140M project to double the port’s rail capacity to 1M containers by 2020 as part of the GPA’s “Mid-American Arc” strategy to attract more rail links between Savannah and the midwest. New spending of $4.27M was approved for the project.
For the Port of New Brunswick, the board approved three items totalling $15.5 million that will develop an additional 85 acres for vehicle processing at Colonel's Island Terminal.
"I would like to thank Chairman Allgood and our entire board for the approvals today for our facilities in Savannah and Brunswick," said Lynch. "These moves position the authority to grow with existing port users, and to provide turnkey operations for potential customers."
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