Gateway Terminals handles first box in Savannah

On Monday at the Port of Savannah, representatives from Gateway Terminals, the International Longshoremen’s Association and the Georgia Ports Authority joined to mark the first container moved under the direction of Gateway, a new joint venture company combining locally the three legacies of Ports America, Ceres Marine Terminals, and SSA Atlantic.

Ports America, Ceres Marine Terminals, and SSA Atlantic have consolidated container terminal, truck gate and stevedoring services under Gateway Terminals to streamline their activities.

In part, Gateway will manage the operation of loading and unloading vessels, including hiring longshoremen crews on behalf of the shipping lines, planning vessel stowage and overseeing cargo handling safety. The Port of Savannah serves 36 vessels per week and averages 14,000 truck moves per day.

Already the third busiest U.S. port complex, Garden City Terminal has the potential to significantly increase throughput as a result of the consolidation.

Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than 496,700 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute $29 billion in income, $122 billion in revenue and $3.4 billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy. The Port of Savannah handled 9.3 percent of total U.S. containerized cargo volume and 10.5 percent of all U.S. containerized exports in FY2020.