The call of the 13,092 TEU vessel »Cosco Development« in Savannah marks a new milestone at U.S. East Cost ports. It is the largest containership to ever call the Coast as it handled 5,500 containers, a record for Georgia Ports.
In the past months the Georgia Ports Authority alrea[ds_preview]dy spoke about a story of success with record volumes, positive effects of the expanded Panama Canal or new investment and cooperation projects.
»This is another example of how the Port of Savannah is the gateway not just for the U.S. Southeast, but for America‘s East Coast,« now Governor Nathan Deal said. During the ship‘s 30 hours at dock, up to six cranes moved 10,000 TEUs, which translated into more than 50 % of the vessel‘s entire volume for its maiden voyage to the U.S. East Coast.
Deeper access channel
»The Cosco Development is the start of a new era in the East Coast container trade,« said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. »With their shift to larger, more cost-effective vessels, the shipping lines are gravitating toward gateway ports. The Port of Savannah is perfectly suited to handle the larger exchanges of Neo-Panamax vessels.«
According to the statement, crews working the COSCO Development were able to complete more than 220 container moves per hour during a period in which the GPA and International Longshoremen worked a total of nine vessels, moving more than 12,000 total containers, or 21,600 TEUs. The 1,200-acre Garden City Terminal features 26 ship-to-shore cranes and 146 rubber-tired gantry cranes – more than any other U.S. terminal.
In the near future, vessels such as the »Cosco Development« will be able to take advantage of deeper water as the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) makes additional progress. At present, dredging for the outer harbor to 49 feet at mean low water, which constitutes about half of the shipping channel, is 60 % complete. The inner harbor project will provide 47 feet of deepwater draft when complete.
A study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showed that U.S. companies moving goods through Garden City Terminal will save $282 million per year once the harbor deepening is complete in 2021.
