The Atlanta City Council on Monday approved a resolution supporting efforts to deepen the harbor at the Port of Savannah to 48 feet from its current depth of 42 feet.
Council members said the $600 million project is vital to Georgia’s future so the port can serve post-Panamax jumbo container ships that require harbor depths of 46 feet.
The port project will provide “economic viability and vitality” because of the amount of goods and products coming through the port to be transported to metro Atlanta and other parts of the state, Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell said.
“Our state is already known for its expertise in logistics with our diverse highway system and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, yet Georgia will become the port of choice for importers, exporters, and distributors to ship their goods,” he said.
According to the council, shipping experts believe larger container ships will opt to use ports along the Gulf of Mexico and along the East Coast, like Savannah, once the $6 billion expansion of the Panama Canal opens to larger vessels in 2014, also referred to as post-Panamax ships. Today, many larger container vessels unload products onto rail lines on the West Coast to ship their goods east.
Georgia has already spent $100 million on the project. The fiscal 2012 budget awaiting Gov. Nathan Deal’s signature includes $32 million of general obligation bonds to support the undertaking.
The federal budget released earlier this year failed to include a $105 million appropriation requested by the Georgia Ports Authority, but the spending plan did authorize $600,000 for pre-construction funding. It is not clear where the remaining funds will come from.
Savannah is the state’s largest port. It handled more than $46 billion in cargo in 2009, or nearly 8% of all cargo containers shipped to and from the U.S.
