Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) asked the state’s congressional delegation to back his plans for another expansion to the Port of Savannah in letters he sent Monday.
Kemp’s letter to Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) was posted to X, formerly Twitter. In the letter, Kemp revealed he is pushing for a bipartisan movement to deepen and widen the Port of Savannah for the second time, and indicated he sent matching letters to the state’s other congressional representatives.
The governor noted the dredging completed in March 2022 made the harbor accessible for vessels with an 8,200 Twenty-Foot Equivalent (TFE) capacity, which represents the number of 20-foot shipping containers that can fit on each ship. Though the most recent dredging was only completed in 2022, Capitol Beat reported that vessels twice that size are now calling on the port, and Kemp stressed the need to continue expanding.
He noted the “estimated return on investment” for the $1 billion project “was nearly 5 to 1,” bringing tangible benefits to Georgia across its congressional districts, and seemed to suggest future widening will have similar results.
In his letter, Kemp asked the representative “to authorize a feasibility study in the Water Resources Development Act of 2024 that strongly urges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to” study how to “complete this work without delay.”
>@GovKemp just sent a letter to Georgia’s congressional delegation urging a united front behind a new effort to deepen the Savannah River for ever-larger ships. The last dredging was the result of an extraordinary bipartisan alliance, and Kemp hopes to recreate that coalition. pic.twitter.com/YXPWx73B0a
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) October 30, 2023
Kemp seemed to note the bipartisan nature of the previous effort, which was authorized during the Clinton administration, and urged Georgia’s Republican and Democratic representatives to “provide that level of leadership again” to usher in “the next phase of growth at the Port of Savannah.”
The previous project saw the port deepened from 42 to 47 feet, but WXGA noted the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) required 25 years to complete studies and obtain funding to increase its depth.
When the project was completed, Kemp visited the port and hailed it as “something transformational, something that will solidify our position as the best state for business for years to come, and something that whole generations of Georgians will benefit from economically and personally.”
It is a true honor for @GaFirstLady, Lucy, & I to be in Savannah today for this once-in-a-generation, transformational project completion. This will yield incredible results for all who call Georgia home & further our reputation on the global stage as the best state for business. https://t.co/fIxoVD1Ak8 pic.twitter.com/xKBaU3wnxj
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) March 25, 2022
A few months after the port was deepened, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) reported a new record for the number of containers received in May 2022, declaring a 8.5 percent increase compared to the previous year. The GPA also spent more than $400 million on infrastructure upgrades to the Port of Savannah after the dredging project was completed.
In a statement, GPA credited its employees, the International Longshoremen’s Union, and partners in shipping for “the phenomenal growth we have achieved” to ensure “the free flow of cargo between major markets across the U.S. Southeast and the world.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Georgia Star News and a reporter for the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Port of Savannah” by U.S. Department of Agriculture.
