Savannah Port Wins Permit for 3.5M TEU Terminal: Here’s the Timeline
Georgia Ports Authority secures Army Corps approval for a $2.3bn Hutchison Island terminal to boost capacity to 12M TEU.
The Georgia Ports Authority has secured U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approval for a new 3.5 million TEU container terminal at the Port of Savannah, marking the end of a three-year regulatory review and paving the way for a $2.3 billion expansion on Hutchison Island.
East Coast trade. The project is part of a broader $4.13 billion infrastructure plan approved by the GPA board over the past decade, which includes a near-complete $1.6 billion upgrade to the Ocean Terminal.
Why the new terminal matters for Savannah’s growth: savannah container terminal
The Port of Savannah has been on a growth trajectory since the 2016 inauguration of the New Panama Canal, which opened direct “all-water” routes from Asia to the U.S. East Coast.
The new Hutchison Island terminal will span 350 acres and be designed to accommodate the largest container ships. Griff Lynch, CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority since 2011, called the permit a “capstone” for his tenure, during which Savannah’s container volume has nearly doubled and revenues have more than tripled. “We’re never done growing,” Lynch said in a statement, crediting the port’s success to “talented, dedicated people at GPA and business partners who defined our service levels.”
«We have been blessed with talented, dedicated people at GPA and with business partners who defined our service levels, enabling our customers to succeed and grow. I’m proud of our people, thankful for our customers and confident in the port and inland infrastructure we’ve built. We’re never done growing.»
Griff Lynch·CEO, Georgia Ports Authority
What’s next: construction timeline and economic impact
Construction of the Savannah Container Terminal will begin in January 2028, with completion expected in the mid-mid-2030ss. The project is one of several aimed at modernising Savannah’s infrastructure, including a large-scale dredging of Savannah Harbor to accommodate larger vessels and improve intermodal transport links.
The Port of Savannah is already more than 60% through a separate $1.6 billion expansion of its Ocean Terminal, which will increase its capacity from 200,000 TEU to 1.75 million TEU by the end of 2028.
Tom Boyd, Chief Communications Officer for the GPA, told Supply Chain Dive that the port’s ten-year plan forecasts a 55% growth in container volume for Georgia and the Southeast region. “We use this figure to identify the port infrastructure capacity necessary to service this container volume,” Boyd said, underscoring the need for the new terminal.
«Our ten-year plan forecasts 55% growth in Georgia and the Southeast region. We use this figure to identify the port infrastructure capacity necessary to service this container volume.»
Tom Boyd·Chief Communications Officer, Georgia Ports Authority
The economic advantages of the expansion are clear. Chris Gaffney, Managing Director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at Georgia Tech, noted that Savannah offers “a clear economic advantage compared to West Coast routes” for shippers transporting goods to markets like Atlanta and Memphis, Tennessee. The new terminal will further solidify Savannah’s role as a critical hub for U.S. supply chains.
The permit approval comes as the GPA continues to invest in inland infrastructure, including a new inland port in Gainesville, Georgia, to support industries such as poultry, heavy equipment, and forest products.
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