The Georgia Ports Authority's $1.6 billion redevelopment of Savannah's Ocean Terminal has cleared the 60% completion mark, anchored by a finished 2,650-foot berth now able to handle large container vessels.

GPA Chief Executive Griff Lynch told the authority's board Tuesday: "The renovated berth is fully completed and ready for big ships."

When delivered, the project will lift Ocean Terminal's annual capacity from 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent units to 1.75 million TEUs — a near-ninefold increase that places Savannah among the most aggressive container expansions on the U.S. East Coast.

When will the yard deliver?

GPA plans to keep smaller vessels working the terminal until the first phase of its container-yard redevelopment finishes in mid-fall 2027. Full yard completion is set for the end of 2028. The sequencing lets the authority absorb a measured volume ramp rather than a single cutover.

How will trucks move in and out?

The terminal's new truck gate is fully operational and will ultimately run 12 inbound lanes and six outbound lanes. GPA also financed a $29 million overpass routing departing trucks straight to U.S. 17 and Interstate 16, taking them off neighborhood streets near the facility.

Board chairman Alec Poitevint said transforming the 200-acre terminal while continuing port operations "represented a major undertaking for the authority, its contractors and other partners." The double-running requirement has raised pressure on yard logistics, gate sequencing and labor planning across every contractor shift.

Where does this fit in the master plan?

Ocean Terminal sits inside a 10-year port master plan worth roughly $5 billion in capacity investments. GPA aims to add five container berths in Savannah plus one roll-on/roll-off berth in Brunswick.

The spending lands as Savannah handled 529,523 TEUs in August. Loaded exports rose 4.2% year over year to 117,242 TEUs. Import loads climbed 1.5% to 265,859 TEUs.

Can the Panama and Suez canals ease cargo flows?

Two canal developments could relieve bottlenecks on the lanes feeding Savannah.

On the Panama side, heavier September rainfall has lifted Gatun Lake levels. The Panama Canal Authority expects vessel draft limits to climb through November and return to the 50-foot maximum. It also adds one Neopanamax booking slot on Sept. 28. The change matters for carriers placing Neopanamax tonnage back on East Coast rotations that call Savannah.

On the Suez side, GPA noted that ocean carriers are testing renewed routings for U.S.-bound cargo. Maersk's MECL service and CMA CGM's Indamex service are among the offerings involved. Routing between India and Savannah through Suez can cut 10 to 14 days from transit times versus longer alternatives — a gain aimed at apparel, automotive components and machinery flows on the India–U.S. East Coast lane.

What does this mean for shippers and forwarders?

Shippers gain additional berth capacity in Savannah ahead of any peak-season squeeze. Carriers get a back-of-port facility sized for 1.75 million TEUs annually, with gate throughput limited only by the lane count. Forwarders placed on the India–Savannah lane will likely feel the Suez speed gain first, saving up to two weeks against Cape of Good Hope routings.

Drayage and intermodal providers will watch the 12-in/6-out gate configuration take shape, since that ratio sets the ceiling on daily truck-turn capacity. Importers also benefit from a wider arrival window in the second half of each year, when vessel bunching has historically drawn Savannah anchorage queues.

GPA will outline fiscal 2026 performance, infrastructure progress and strategic outlook at its Savannah State of the Port event Oct. 14 at the Savannah Convention Center — the next formal checkpoint on the path to a yard delivered by late 2028.