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Savannah Morning News

Container ships load and unload at the Georgia Ports Authority: The Savannah River port is a major part of the Coastal Empire's economic engine. (Photo: Carl Elmore)

The port of Savannah is shooting for handling 6.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit containers by 2017, and four elements are necessary to make that happen, Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Doug J. Marchand said in his Savannah State of the Port speech Thursday.

The port must shift toward a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week operation; the state and region must continue to invest in work force development; road projects must be completed that will allow truck traffic to move between the port and Interstates 95 and 16; and the Savannah Harbor must be deepened to accommodate a new class of ships capable of carrying more than twice the cargo.

"It is critical that we stay ahead of the growth curve, and that requires long-range planning, commitment and vision," Marchand told a packed house at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center.

The port is currently the second-highest volume container facility on the East Coast and fourth in the nation.

In fiscal year 2007, the port saw a 14.5 percent increase in container volume, handling 2.34 million TEUs. It averages about 15 percent growth a year.

The most important of the four elements Marchand said are necessary for port growth is the deepening of the Savannah Harbor from 42 to 48 feet.

The deepening is needed to accommodate a new class of ships capable of carrying more than twice the number of containers as those currently in use. Those ships will soon be traveling through East Coast waters thanks to a $5.2 billion expansion of the Panama Canal that will allow the new ships through. That expansion is scheduled to be finished in 2014.

If the ships can't fit into Savannah's port, they will turn to other ports, Marchand said.

"It is absolutely critical to the future vitality and success of the port and the close to 300,000 people throughout this state who rely on the port for their well-being," he said.

Preparing for growth

The port has already been investing in infrastructure to prepare its terminal for the growth, including increasing rail capacity, taking possession of the first 30 acres of a planned 100 acres behind the new berths 8 and 9, and buying 15 new Rubber-Tired Gantry cranes, which can stack containers higher and more densely, and therefore increase capacity.

In fiscal year 2008, port officials plan to invest $111 million to prepare for future growth, including buying four more Ship-to-Shore Container Cranes for $37.7 million and 14 Rubber-Tired Gantry Cranes for $19.5 million.

Also essential to growth is a shift to a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week port operation to take advantage of the supply chain.

"This includes terminal operations, gates, roadways, etc., and needs the buy-in from the trucking community, the warehouse operators and beneficial cargo owners," Marchand said. "Our recent increases to gate hours on Saturdays, early morning starts, and evenings to 2300 hours are only the beginning. We need to continue to adapt to this changing requirement of our industry, and we must have the support from many of you to accomplish this."

Also on the list of requirements is a series of road connector projects that will allow truck traffic to move between the port and Interstates 95 and 16 without clogging up surface roads. The projects include the Grange Road Upgrade, the Ga. 307 Overpass, the Brampton Road Connector and the Jimmy DeLoach Parkway Extension.

Handling a deficit

Complicating matters for the port's connector hopes is a $7.7 billion deficit during the next six years for Georgia road projects.

Ports officials have been meeting with local and state officials with an eye toward achieving its goals, GPA board Chairman Stephen Green said in a phone interview after Marchand's speech.

Officials have worked out a curriculum with Savannah Technical College's Effingham campus that concentrates on logistics, and have met with the Georgia Department of Transportation and Gov. Sonny Perdue's office regarding road projects.

"I think everybody acknowledges the necessity of the last-mile projects to open that link between the ports and the interstate," he said. "There's an economic imperative for the entire state's economy. We support 286,000 jobs statewide, and have a 50-50 mix of imports and exports. The port is the gateway to the world market, and we've got to be able to get goods distributed to the markets, not just in Georgia, but throughout the Southeast and up into the Midwest."

As for the harbor deepening, officials hope a study and mitigation plan will be finished by the end of the year so the port can begin getting public comment in the first part of 2008.

Officials hope to start the actual deepening in 2009.