US: Ports upgrade in Georgia
The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) in the US will spend $1.2 billion over the next few years to triple container handling capacity at Georgia's Savannah and Brunswick ports.
More than $400 million will go into deepening the harbour at Savannah while an estimated $82.6 million will be spent on post-Panamax cranes, gantries, IT upgrades and terminal improvements, news reports said.
These measures for expansion come amid a flurry of activity involving the addition of new routes and an increasing number of ships calling at the ports in Georgia.
In 2006, Maersk Line and the GPA signed a 20-year agreement making the port of Savannah, located up the Savannah river up from the Atlantic Ocean, one of its primary ports of call in the South Atlantic.
Maersk also recently added Savannah to its MECL2 service which gives trading in Savannah additional direct shipping routes to the Middle East and Asia.
Savannah port is currently the fastest growing port in the US, with throughput jumping 78% from 2002 to 2006 with an average annual growth of 16%.
Last year, the GPA handled 2.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of which 53% were direct imports or exports from China.
More than $400 million will go into deepening the harbour at Savannah while an estimated $82.6 million will be spent on post-Panamax cranes, gantries, IT upgrades and terminal improvements, news reports said.
These measures for expansion come amid a flurry of activity involving the addition of new routes and an increasing number of ships calling at the ports in Georgia.
In 2006, Maersk Line and the GPA signed a 20-year agreement making the port of Savannah, located up the Savannah river up from the Atlantic Ocean, one of its primary ports of call in the South Atlantic.
Maersk also recently added Savannah to its MECL2 service which gives trading in Savannah additional direct shipping routes to the Middle East and Asia.
Savannah port is currently the fastest growing port in the US, with throughput jumping 78% from 2002 to 2006 with an average annual growth of 16%.
Last year, the GPA handled 2.1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of which 53% were direct imports or exports from China.