BBD, I found something you may be interested in. Check the bottom of the article. HISC must be holding everything back until the OTC, that is my best guess. I do not know of anyone else who is working at the Savannah port or has Port Authority permission. Now what?
Monday, June 13, 2005
New Cranes Head for Port's Berth 8
By Jenifer Putnam
TBR Staff
Work is on schedule to open the Georgia Ports Authority's Berth 8 early in 2006. The port will receive two Super Post Panamax Cranes this month to work the docks.
Container Berth 8, currently under construction, will receive its first cargo shipment the middle of this month, Georgia Ports Authority spokesman Robert Morris says.
The facility will receive two Super Post Panamax cranes, which Morris said are the largest ship-to-dock cranes in the world. The cranes are 465 feet long and 374 feet high and weigh 1,369 tons.
Eventually these cranes will operate at the dock when it opens in the first quarter of 2006. The port authority has two other such cranes at Berth 7.
Morris said the cranes were able to be delivered because of how far along the construction is coming. Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Doug J. Marchand reported at the end of April that more than half of Berth 8's new 2,100-foot dock has been completed. The dredging of the berth and demolition of an existing structure are complete, and a new storage area is currently under construction.
"We're very pleased with the progress we've made," Morris said. "The project is beginning to look a lot like a container berth."
The new container berth will include an additional 72 acres of storage area. The new berth is expected to come online early next year and to be followed immediately thereafter with development of additional terminal space to further enhance productivity and operating efficiencies.
"By this time next year, the Port of Savannah will feature over 9,800 feet of continuous dock, thus increasing what is already the largest single terminal container facility on the East and Gulf coasts," Marchand said.
The berth is expected to expand the port's capacity by 20 percent and accommodate a lot of the port's expected future growth. The operation of Berth 8 is expected to create 11,000 direct and indirect jobs.
"We are encouraged that this exciting new project is on schedule and on budget," Marchand said. "Our steady growth this fiscal year further underscores the importance of our expansion program."
Total containers through the first three quarters of the fiscal year (July 2004 - April 2005) jumped by 12.2 percent. Total Twenty-foot Equivalent Units were at 1.3 million through the first nine months, an 11.9 percent increase. GPA also experienced record gate volumes for the month of March as a result of increased exports. Gate activity for March exceeded 114,000 moves and represented a 16 percent increase over the prior month.
"All of this was accomplished without delays at our gates," said Marchand, "and that is a tribute to the hard work, innovation and excellent customer service demonstrated by our employees and the people who serve commerce through the Port of Savannah."
In other business, the Authority approved the award of more than $430,000 in contracts to improve port security. These improvements were made possible due to a grant from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
"These new projects are part of a series of infrastructure and technology improvements necessary to regulate and monitor access in and out of the terminal without having to allocate additional manpower," he said.
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