he Port of Savannah is a major U.S. seaport located at Savannah, Georgia. Its extensive facilities for oceangoing vessels line both sides of the Savannah River approximately 18 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Operated by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the Port of Savannah competes primarily with the Port of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina to the northeast, and the Port of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida to the south. The GPA operates one other Atlantic seaport in Georgia, the Port of Brunswick, located at Brunswick, Georgia, as well as two interior ports linked to the Gulf of Mexico, Port Bainbridge and Port Columbus.

The Garden City Terminal of the Georgia Ports Authority extends along the right side of the Savannah River from 2.4 to 3.7 miles above the Talmadge Bridge. Berths 51-60 are constructed of concrete, and berths 51-57 have a steel sheet pile bulkhead with solid fill. Alongside depths range from 37 to 40 ft and deck height is 15 ft relative to MLW. Berths 50A and 50B are timber pile, timber-decked offshore wharves with an alongside depth of 34 ft and deck height of 12.5 ft MLW. Berth 61 also has an offshore wharf, a 38-ft depth alongside, and a 15-ft MLW deck height. This berth is constructed of prestressed concrete with concrete-capped breasting dolphins.

Seven other berths in the Savannah Harbor have been constructed well enough and with an adequate water depth alongside to handle smaller Navy vessels. These include the berths of Diamond Manufacturing Company and Savannah Machine and Shipyard Company, the two major marine repair facilities in the harbor. The remaining well-constructed berths are Continental Can, Flintkote Wharf, National Gypsum, American Oil and Colonial Oil Industries. Each of these seven berths, except for the Flintkote Company Wharf, is located above the Talmadge Bridge.

For the first time in GPA’s history, the Port of Savannah’s total exports exceeded one million TEUs. “In addition to exporting more cargo than ever before to the Far East and Mediterranean we added significant new export market share to the India Subcontinent,” said Doug J. Marchand, GPA’s Executive Director.

Total TEUs exported to China surpassed 175,000, a 23.6-percent increase compared with the previous year, Marchand added. GPA exported more than 18,000 TEUs to the emerging market of India, two and a half times more than the previous fiscal year.