A planned expansion will allow the Port of Brunswick to accommodate additional vessels carrying automobiles and machinery.
The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has received a federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to add a fourth berth for cargo ships to dock at its Colonel’s Island Terminal.
The project, currently in the engineering phase, will help support the expansion of auto processing onto 400-plus acres on the south side of the island that are permitted for development.
“The re-opening of domestic and overseas auto plants has resulted in an upward trend in Roll-on/Roll-off volumes at Colonel’s Island Terminal in Brunswick and at Savannah’s Ocean Terminal, which we expect to continue,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch .
The Port of Brunswick handled 587,395 units of Ro/Ro cargo in 2020, a four percent decrease compared to 2019. However, GPA saw faster growth in the last months of 2020 and beginning of the new year. January and February Ro/Ro totaled 104,731 units in Brunswick, an increase of 8,279 units or 8.6 percent. Ro/Ro trade grew 23 percent in February compared to the same month a year ago, handling 50,945 units.
Additionally, GPA recently renovated Berth 2 at Colonel’s Island, which formerly handled bulk cargo, to better serve Ro/Ro vessels. The Port of Brunswick’s auto port currently features a total of three full-time Ro/Ro berths, and two on-terminal auto processors, which serve 20 automakers and nine steamship lines.