Governor requests money for Savannah port deepening project

Gov. Sonny Perdue is asking state lawmakers to approve $36 million to begin a long-awaited project to deepen the river route to the Port of Savannah. The request is part of the governor's 2010 budget proposal presented to the Legislature this week.

Georgia Ports Authority spokesman Robert Morris said the funding is needed to dredge the shipping channel on the Savannah River from 42 feet to as deep as 48 feet. Morris said the Savannah port, the fourth largest in the U.S., will need a deeper channel to compete when larger container ships begin using the Panama Canal in 2014.

If approved by the Legislature, Morris said the money should be available in time to apply for federal matching funds as Congress takes up its next budget later this year.

(Associated Press)

Traffic delays possible as Kia brings in equipment

Georgia State Patrol will escort a machine weighing over six-hundred-thousand pounds and occupying two lanes of traffic to the new Kia plant in West Point tonight.

The machine, along with other equipment, arrived at the Port of Savannah last week.

The Georgia Department of Transportation expects delays late tonight and into the early morning as the one-hundred-twenty-eight loads head to the South Korean auto-maker’s plant.

(Macon Telegraph)

New record for Savannah port

Georgia's main port is marking a new first. The Georgia Ports Authority says the port of Savannah moved more than 1-million exported 20-foot containers in fiscal year 2008. The Savannah Morning News reports China brought in the most shipments at 175,000. Italy, Turkey, Japan, and the Republic of Korea also topped the list.

New technology arrives at Georgia port

The Port of Savannah is set to team up with the world’s 2nd largest port in China—they’ll be debuting a new technology to track cargo containers electronically as they’re shipped overseas. The Georgia Ports Authority and the Shanghai International Port Group will tout the so-called "E-tag" system at a news conference today in Savannah.