The Georgia Ports Authority intends to relocate breakbulk cargo from the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal to the Port of Brunswick’s Colonel’s Island Terminal as part of a larger effort to expand container operations at the Port of Savannah.
GPA intends to realign the Savannah docks and relocate the breakbulk cargo carried by the Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean as part of a two-pronged project.
Individual pieces of cargo that do not fit into a container and thus cannot be transported in bulk are called breakbulk cargo.
“Ocean Terminal has handled a mix of container ships and breakbulk vessels for nearly 40 years.” The realignment is part of a larger effort to transform the terminal into an all-container operation, with most breakbulk cargo moving to the Port of Brunswick, according to GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch in a news release issued on Monday. “The completion of this project will increase our flexibility and allow Georgia Ports to optimize cargo movement, assisting our customers in efficiently delivering goods to market.”
The relocation entails the construction of a 360,000-square-foot warehousing facility at Brunswick to serve auto processing. GPA also stated that there will be three additional buildings and 85 acres of auto storage space on the island’s south side.
GPA will rebuild the docks at Savannah’s 200-acre Ocean Terminal to provide 2,800 linear feet of berth space. This will allow the docks to serve two large ships at the same time. At the docks, eight new ship-to-shore cranes will be installed.
Wharf renovations will begin in January, with a completion date of 2026 set for the terminal redevelopment. According to GPA, the overall project will include expanded gate facilities and 1.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units of annual capacity.
According to the port authority, GPA will continue to operate container ships at Ocean Terminal while the dock is being built.
GPA reported last month that October volumes totaled 552,800 TEUs, an increase of 9.6% year over year, making October the Port of Savannah’s second-busiest month, trailing only August of this year.
