Port of Savannah accelerating $150 million expansion amid cargo surge

The Georgia Ports Authority agreed Monday to accelerate a $150 million expansion at the Port of Savannah in response to a surge in cargo volumes that has cramped its container yard and kept ships waiting at sea.

The state agency’s governing board approved a plan to increase by 25% Savannah’s capacity for cargo containers by June.

The new space for storing containers waiting to be loaded onto ships, trucks or trains will cover roughly 150 acres, said Griff Lynch, the port authority’s executive director. He said more than a third of that new capacity should be ready by January and the port ultimately will be capable of handling 1.6 million additional cargo containers per year.