The renovated berth at Savannah's Ocean Terminal is complete and ready to receive large container ships, Georgia Ports Authority CEO Griff Lynch told the GPA board on Tuesday, as the US$1.6 billion conversion project passed the 60% construction mark.

"Ocean Terminal is a major part of our strategy to prepare Savannah for future growth. The renovated berth is fully completed and ready for big ships," Lynch said.

The project, launched in 2023, is converting the 200-acre terminal from a breakbulk-and-RoRo operation into an all-container facility. Phases I and II are done, delivering 2,650 feet (807.7 metres) of berth. Once finished, the works are designed to berth two large container vessels simultaneously and lift the terminal's annual capacity from 200,000 TEU to 1.75 million TEU — a more than eightfold increase on a single footprint.

For carriers and shippers on the US East Coast trade, the timing matters. Additional deepwater berth capacity in Savannah gives ocean lines more flexibility on big-ship deployments and gives importers and exporters an alternative to increasingly constrained gateways elsewhere on the seaboard. GPA will keep working smaller vessels at Ocean Terminal until mid-fall 2027, when the first phase of the container yard renovation should be complete. The entire yard is due by the end of 2028.

Landside work is already delivering. The truck gate is fully operational, with 12 inbound and six outbound lanes. A US$29 million port-funded overpass will route departing trucks directly onto US 17 and Interstate 16, bypassing neighbourhood streets — a change aimed at cutting dwell times and community congestion around the terminal.

"Transforming a 200-acre terminal while keeping the port operating is a tremendous undertaking, and the progress at Ocean Terminal is a testament to the hard work of our GPA team and our partners," said GPA Board Chairman Alec Poitevint.

$5 billion, ten years, six berths

The Ocean Terminal works sit inside GPA's wider port master plan. Over the next decade, Georgia Ports intends to invest US$5 billion in capacity enhancements, adding five container berths in Savannah and one RoRo berth in Brunswick. The programme positions Savannah to keep pace with vessel upsizing on Asia–US East Coast and Europe–US East Coast services, where carriers have steadily shifted tonnage since the pandemic-era port diversions.

August volumes show export momentum

Demand is backing the bet. The Port of Savannah handled 529,523 TEU in August. Export loads reached 117,242 TEU, up nearly 4,700 TEU or 4.2% year on year. Import loads totalled 265,859 TEU, up roughly 3,800 TEU or 1.5% — export growth outpacing inbound growth even as total volumes stay firmly import-weighted.

"We are encouraged by the demand for the Port of Savannah and expect a strong finish to the year," said Georgia Ports President Kevin Price.

Brunswick, GPA's RoRo gateway, handled 60,572 auto units in August, with heavy machinery volumes up 22% — a signal that agricultural and construction equipment flows through the Southeast remain firm.

Bridge works to raise air draft

One constraint on Savannah's big-ship ambitions is also moving toward resolution. Georgia Department of Transportation crews are carrying out survey and inspection work on the Talmadge Bridge ahead of cable replacement scheduled to begin later this year. The maintenance project will install shorter cables, raising the bridge deck by up to 21 feet and increasing the air draft for vessels transiting the Savannah River. The bridge will stay open to traffic throughout the work, which is expected to finish in 2029–2030.

With the new berth in service, yard build-out running to 2028 and the bridge raise due by the end of the decade, Savannah is sequencing capacity, landside access and navigational clearance to be ready for the next generation of vessel deployments on the East Coast.