Between 2000 and 2005 alone, the Port of Savannah was the fastest-growing seaport in the United States, with a compounded annual growth rate of 16.5 percent (the national average is 9.7 percent). On July 30, 2007, the GPA announced that the Port of Savannah had a record year in fiscal 2007, becoming the fourth-busiest and fastest-growing container terminal in the U.S.[9] As of 2021, the port was third busiest seaport in the United States.[6] The GPA handled more than 2.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of container traffic during fiscal 2007–a 14.5 percent increase and a new record for containers handled at the Port of Savannah. In the past five years, the port's container traffic has jumped 55 percent from 1.5 million TEU handled in fiscal 2003 to 2.3 million TEU in fiscal 2007.[10] By 2014, container traffic was up to 3 million TEU.[11] In 2018, the Port handled a record 4.35 million TEU, a 7.5 percent increase over 2017.[12]
In response to the growth in traffic at both Savannah and the Port of Charleston, the Jasper Ocean Terminal, which would be the largest port in the country if it is completed, is planned to be built upriver on the Savannah River by the mid-2020s.[13]
The Port of Savannah was unable to accommodate further terminal growth, which caused it to develop satellite terminal facilities and inland distribution.[14] These facilities include:
Garden City Terminal: Owned and operated by the GPA, the Garden City Terminal is a secured, dedicated container terminal, the largest single-operator container terminal in North America. The 1,345-acre (5 km2) facility features 9,693 feet (2,955 m) of continuous berthing and more than 1.1 million square feet (104,000 m2) of covered storage. The terminal is equipped with thirty-six high-speed container cranes (30super post-Panamax and 6 post-Panamax), as well as an extensive inventory of yard handling equipment.[15]
Ocean Terminal: Also owned and operated by the GPA, the Ocean Terminal is a secured, dedicated breakbulk facility specializing in the rapid and efficient handling of a vast array of forest and solid wood products, steel, RoRo (Roll-on / Roll-off), project shipments and heavy-lift cargoes. The 200.8-acre (0.8 km2) facility features 3,599 feet (1,099 m) of deepwater berthing, approximately 1.425 million square feet (133,000 m2) of covered storage and 99 acres (401,000 m2) of open, versatile storage.[16]
SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex: In 2014, Savannah-based Dulany Industries, Inc. reached an agreement with Greenfield Environmental Savannah Trust LLC to buy the 1,600-acre former site[17] of Kerr McGee and Tronox off East President Street, to develop the SeaPoint Complex, a sustainable multi-use industrial complex with the first privately owned commercial berth on the main shipping channel of the Savannah River.
Target Corporation Facility: On September 21, 2005, GovernorSonny Perdue announced that Target Corporation has decided to build a two-million-square-foot import warehouse at the Savannah River International Trade Park, located four miles (6 km) from the Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah.[citation needed] The import warehouse opened on June 8, 2007, and handles overseas cargo and merchandise for Target Corporation's Southeast stores.[citation needed]
IKEA Facility: On December 13, 2005, Perdue and IKEA would build a 1,700,000-square-foot (160,000 m2) distribution center on 115 acres (0.5 km2) at the Savannah River International Trade Park.[citation needed] The first phase of the project consists of a 685,000-square-foot (63,600 m2) facility, which opened on June 27, 2007.[citation needed] The company also plans to expand the initial facility by approximately 975,000 square feet (90,600 m2) in the future.[citation needed]
On April 10, 2007, Maersk Line reported that the line has added the Port of Savannah to its MECL2 service. With the addition, Maersk Line now has five services calling on the Port of Savannah. The MECL2 service will increase Savannah's trade with India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin. In 2006, Maersk Line and the GPA signed a twenty-year agreement that would make the Port of Savannah one of its primary ports of call in the South Atlantic. The MECL2 service provides direct service from Chennai/Madras, India, to act as transshipment hub for cargo to and from Visakhapatnam, Calcutta/Haldia, and Bangladesh.
Suez Express and East Coast Savannah Express[edit]
On June 5, 2007, APL announced that it would have two new all-water services to the Port of Savannah, one via the Suez Canal and one via the Panama Canal. The weekly Suez Express (SZX) will provide increased capacity via Savannah to and from India and Southeast Asia, deploying eight vessels. The SZX, which will originate in Singapore, calls on Colombo, Sri Lanka, before Savannah and then returns via Jebel Ali, Port Klang and then Singapore. It takes 25 days for the SZX service to transit from Singapore to Savannah. The weekly East Coast Savannah Express (ESX), will provide increased capacity between south and central China and Savannah. The ESX will offer a transit time of 22 days from Hong Kong to Savannah, making this service the fastest available to the U.S. East Coast.[citation needed] The ESX originates in Ningbo then call on Shanghai, Chiwan, Hong Kong, Panama and then Savannah, New York, Norfolk, Panama and back to Ningbo.
