Savannah launches harbor deepening study

Georgia Ports Authority opened a new study on June 2 to examine whether the Savannah Harbor shipping channel should be deepened and widened for larger container ships. The review will also consider adding passing lanes so large vessels can move in two directions at the same time, according to the authority and local reporting. The study starts four years after the last major harbor deepening was completed in 2022, when the channel was taken from 42 feet to 47 feet. Any eventual construction project would still need U.S. Army Corps of Engineers review, congressional authorization and federal funding. ### Why is Savannah studying the harbor again so soon after the last deepening? The 2022 Savannah Harbor Expansion Project increased channel depth by five feet, but Georgia Ports says vessel sizes using Savannah have continued to rise. Georgia Ports President and CEO Griff Lynch said the channel now needs to be “deepened and widened” to handle the largest ships already calling at the port and larger vessels expected on the U.S. East Coast. (gaports.com) Georgia Ports said Savannah is now serving ships capable of carrying more than 16,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, which it described as roughly twice the size the channel was originally designed to accommodate. A deeper channel would let larger ships load more cargo and reduce tidal delays, the authority said. ### What exactly will this study look at? The June 2 letter of intent to Adam Telle, the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, starts what Georgia Ports calls a Savannah Harbor modification study. (gaports.com) The authority said the work will examine channel deepening, widening and the addition of passing lanes for two-way traffic. Georgia Ports said the study will assess market demand, identify the vessel class most likely to dominate Savannah’s future traffic and then design possible harbor modifications around that ship size. (gaports.com) The review will also examine effects on the estuary and the project’s economic benefits, while the Corps retains final review and approval authority over environmental and economic analysis. ### Why do passing lanes matter? Passing lanes would allow arriving and departing ships to transit the channel simultaneously, Georgia Ports said. WSAV reported that the study will consider widening certain portions of the river to make two-way movement more efficient for large vessels. The authority is framing that as an operational change as much as a dredging project. In its statement, Georgia Ports tied the harbor review to five new container berths under development, the new Gainesville Inland Port and Georgia Department of Transportation projects around Savannah. (gaports.com) ### Who is paying for the study, and what is the federal role? Congress provided an initial $500,000 in the fiscal 2026 budget for the study after the work was authorized under the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, according to Georgia Ports and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (gaports.com) Georgia Ports said it will work with the Corps under Section 203 of WRDA. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May that Georgia Ports has agreed to invest at least $8 million of its own money to speed the feasibility work, which is usually funded by the federal government. (gaports.com) CEO Griff Lynch told the newspaper the goal is to finish the study in time for review ahead of a late-2028 federal funding bill. ### How long could this take? (gaports.com) Alec Poitevint, chairman of the Georgia Ports board, told the Journal-Constitution the authority wants the project “on the fast track.” The same report said the previous deepening took more than 25 years from study to completion because of funding delays and legal challenges tied to environmental concerns. If the current timeline holds, the Journal-Constitution reported, the project could be positioned for inclusion in a late-2028 federal funding bill, with any deepening work completed in the early 2030s. (ajc.com) Before that, the Corps must complete its review and any recommendation to Congress, which WSAV said is required for authorization and construction funding.