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The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has reported record fiscal year results and approved the purchase of six new ship-to-shore cranes that will dramatically increase loading capacity.

In FY2017, the GPA moved an all-time high of 3.85 mill. TEUs, an increase of 6.7 %, or 242,221 TEU[ds_preview]s over the previous year. In the last half of FY2017 alone, the Port of Savannah handled 1.99 mill. TEUs, for a growth rate of 11.6 % over the same period in FY2016.

GPA capped the record fiscal year with its busiest June ever, moving 337,710 TEUs, for growth of 17 % for the month. In Fiscal Year 2017, the GPA moved 33.4 mill. tons of cargo across all terminals, another all-time high and an 8.3 % increase over FY2016.

GPA gets ready for larger vessels

The board approved 72.75 mill. $ to purchase six more Neopanamax ship-to-shore cranes. The new machines will arrive in 2020, and are in addition to a previous order of four cranes that will be operational in June of next year. The combined ten additional cranes will bring the fleet to 36, able to move more than 1,300 containers per hour across a single dock – a capacity unmatched by any other single terminal in North America.

GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch: »Our volume growth continues to outpace forecasted demand. Shipping lines are moving 13,000- and 14,000-TEU vessels into service on the East Coast more quickly than anticipated, and concentrating their deliveries at efficient gateway ports like Savannah. This new crane purchase, along with the four already on order, will enable GPA to increase crane capacity by nearly 40 %.«