[[File:Port of savannah container traffic.webp|thumb|Port of savannah container traffic ]] The Port of Savannah is a major U.S. seaport located at Savannah, Georgia. As of 2021, the port was the third busiest seaport in the United States. Its facilities for oceangoing vessels line both sides of the Savannah River and are approximately 18 mi from the Atlantic Ocean. Operated by the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), the Port of Savannah competes primarily with the Port of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina to the northeast, and the Port of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Florida to the south. The GPA operates one other Atlantic seaport in Georgia, the Port of Brunswick. The state also manages three interior ports linked to the Gulf of Mexico: Port Bainbridge, Port Columbus, and a facility at Cordele, Georgia linked by rail to the Port of Savannah. In the 1950s, the Port of Savannah was the only facility to see an increase in trade while the country experienced a decline in trade of 5%. It was chaired and led by engineer Dr. Blake Van Leer (who also led the US Corps of Engineers). Between 2000 and 2005 alone, the Port of Savannah was the fastest-growing seaport in the United States, with a compounded annual growth rate of 16.5 percent (the national average is 9.7 percent). On July 30, 2007, the GPA announced that the Port of Savannah had a record year in fiscal 2007, becoming the fourth-busiest and fastest-growing container terminal in the U.S. As of 2021, the port was third busiest seaport in the United States. The GPA handled more than of container traffic during fiscal 2007–a 14.5 percent increase and a new record for containers handled at the Port of Savannah. In the past five years, the port's container traffic has jumped 55 percent from handled in fiscal 2003 to in fiscal 2007. By 2014, container traffic was up to. In 2018, the Port handled a record, a 7.5 percent increase over 2017. In response to the growth in traffic at both Savannah and the Port of Charleston, the Jasper Ocean Terminal, which would be the largest port in the country if it is completed, is planned to be built upriver on the Savannah River by the mid-2020s.

Major facilities

The Port of Savannah was unable to accommodate further terminal growth, which caused it to develop satellite terminal facilities and inland distribution. These facilities include:

Maersk Line

On April 10, 2007, Maersk Line reported that the line has added the Port of Savannah to its MECL2 service. With the addition, Maersk Line now has five services calling on the Port of Savannah. The MECL2 service will increase Savannah's trade with India, the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin. In 2006, Maersk Line and the GPA signed a twenty-year agreement that would make the Port of Savannah one of its primary ports of call in the South Atlantic. The MECL2 service provides direct service from Chennai/Madras, India, to act as transshipment hub for cargo to and from Visakhapatnam, Calcutta/Haldia, and Bangladesh.

Suez Express and East Coast Savannah Express

On June 5, 2007, APL announced that it would have two new all-water services to the Port of Savannah, one via the Suez Canal and one via the Panama Canal. The weekly Suez Express (SZX) will provide increased capacity via Savannah to and from India and Southeast Asia, deploying eight vessels. The SZX, which will originate in Singapore, calls on Colombo, Sri Lanka, before Savannah and then returns via Jebel Ali, Port Klang and then Singapore. It takes 25 days for the SZX service to transit from Singapore to Savannah. The weekly East Coast Savannah Express (ESX), will provide increased capacity between south and central China and Savannah. The ESX will offer a transit time of 22 days from Hong Kong to Savannah, making this service the fastest available to the U.S. East Coast. The ESX originates in Ningbo then call on Shanghai, Chiwan, Hong Kong, Panama and then Savannah, New York, Norfolk, Panama and back to Ningbo.

Gallery

Port in the 1930s