Over the last calendar year, the Port of Savannah moved an all-time high 3.73 million twenty-foot equivalent container units, an increase of 391,356 TEU, or 11.7 percent compared to CY2014.

“The expansion was fueled in part by heightened demand in the U.S. Southeast, Savannah’s logistical advantages drawing new customers to Georgia, and cargo diverted from the West Coast,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz.

Total tonnage across all terminals reached a record 31.48 million tons in CY2015, an increase of 1.09 million tons, or 3.6 percent.  Container tonnage accounted for most of that growth, adding 991,031 tons (up 4 percent), for a total of 25.81 million tons. Bulk cargo added 60,705 tons (up 2.2 percent) to reach 2.86 million, while breakbulk cargo grew 1.7 percent, or 47,358 tons, to reach 2.79 million tons.

Also at the meeting Monday, the board approved the purchase of four new ship-to-shore cranes for the Port of Savannah, bringing the total number to 30.

“With today’s decision, the Georgia Ports Authority will make a $47 million investment in order to maintain the highest level of service for port customers,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. “Even before the new cranes arrive, Savannah has more cranes on its nearly two-mile long dock than any other single terminal in North America.”

Currently featuring 22 ship-to-shore cranes, Savannah’s Garden City Terminal will add four cranes this year as previously purchased machines are put into service. The cranes purchased at the board’s direction today will arrive in the late spring of 2018. The additions are part of the board’s Focus 2026 Capital Plan, which calls for 34 ship-to-shore cranes at Garden City Terminal.

Designed by Konecranes of Finland and assembled in Nantong, China, these machines can reach across vessels 22 containers wide and lift cargo weighing up to 72 tons to a height of 152 feet above the dock. Each crane weighs 1,388 tons and measures 433 feet wide and 185 feet tall.

The crane purchases, along with the ongoing Savannah Harbor deepening, anticipate a move in the world fleet  toward larger ships. The average vessel calling on the U.S. East Coast is shifting from a capacity of 4,500 twenty-foot equivalent container units to more than 10,000 TEUs. An expanded Panama Canal will open to these larger vessels this year, providing an important new route for the more efficient ships. The larger vessels offer more than 30 percent savings on shipping costs.

In other business, the board approved $8.2 million for Phase III of construction of a new empty container depot.

“Georgia’s deepwater ports achieved an outstanding year in 2015 with the hard work of our employees and partners in labor, shipping, trucking and rail,” said GPA Board Chairman James Walters. “By adding a truck gate, container yard space, container handling equipment and ship-to-shore cranes, the GPA is maintaining capacity ahead of demand to ensure efficient cargo movement.”

Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) purchased the MFDs to remove accumulated silt, sand, and vegetation at each dam’s basin. By performing regular dam maintenance, Iraq’s MWR can maintain the designed water levels at the dams to prevent structural components from being compromised.

Originating in eastern Turkey, the Tigris River measures approximately 1,150 miles long through Iraq and flows in a southeasterly direction. The Euphrates River is approximately 1,700 miles long and also originates in Turkey, flowing southeast across Syria and then through Iraq. The upper Euphrates is quite shallow, allowing only shallow-draft boats to navigate the waters.

The two rivers have a confluence near Al Qurna to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway in southern Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf. In this area, an extensive marshland environment is present, making it difficult at times to navigate when water levels are low.

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are heavily dammed to provide water for irrigating in the semi-desert regions bordering the river valleys as well as creating a source for hydroelectric power. Damming has also been important for averting floods in Iraq, to which the Tigris River has been historically prone following the snowmelt in the Turkish mountains around April.

The Mud Cat MFD-1000 is an amphibious, multi-function, self-launching, versatile dredging machine that is one-truck transportable and can easily operate in many different environmental clean-up projects. It is capable of moving and dredging through shallow water areas where other single purpose dredging machines cannot operate.

The MFD-1000 is designed for maximum productivity. It comes furnished with a single-piece hull built to ABS River Rules, a modern and comfortable cabin, easy-to-use joystick controls, a heavy-duty industrial excavator arm, and an up-to-date diesel engine.

The Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) tanker will be involved in export trans-shipment of Russia’s Arctic oil produced by Gazprom Neft at the Novoportovskoye (Yamal) and Prirazlomnoye fields. The offshore terminal of RPK Nord in Murmansk is expected to handle annually some 12 million tonnes of oil per year.

In October 2015 the FSO Umba was registered with the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping in Murmansk.