40+ cargo ships waiting to enter Port of Savannah. Beachgoers can see them from Hilton Head

Sebastian Lee, Lisa Wilson

Beachgoers on Hilton Head Island often can see massive cargo ships on the horizon as they pass the island on the way to or from the Port of Savannah.

Lately, though, it looks like the ships are caught in a traffic jam, of sorts.

Ships are waiting an average of 8 days at the Port of Savannah, leading to a pileup that can be seen from Hilton Head.

More than 40 ships, sailing under the flags of Singapore, Portugal, Hong Kong, Liberia and others worldwide, were waiting on Thursday morning for their turn to sail up the Savannah River, according to marinetraffic.com.

Each of the ships has the capacity to hold thousands of 20-foot containers.

The Port of Savannah is the fourth-busiest port in the United States, following Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; and Long Beach, California.

Green circles show anchored cargo ships and green arrows show moving ships off the coast of Hilton Head Island on Wednesday.
Green circles show anchored cargo ships and green arrows show moving ships off the coast of Hilton Head Island on Wednesday.

‘Unprecedented’ volume

A statement from the Georgia Ports Authority cited the “unprecedented” number of ships and volume of cargo at the port and the Garden City Terminal.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, cargo on the water destined for Savannah ranged from 100,000 to 120,000 containers. “By the fall of 2021, that number was 215,000. Today, there are 265,000 containers on the water destined for Savannah,” the GPA statement said.

During the last fiscal year, which ended on June 30, nearly 5.8 million 20-foot containers were brought to the Port of Savannah, an increase of 8% from the year before, according to the authority.

Top exports included forest products, kaolin clay and automotive cargo. Top import commodities included furniture, machinery and plastic goods.

The 14,000-TEU ONE Wren and five other vessels call on the 1,345-acre Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah.
The 14,000-TEU ONE Wren and five other vessels call on the 1,345-acre Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah.

“The growth is stunning,” said Griff Lynch, the authority’s executive director, told The Associated Press this week.

Compounding the backlog is an influx of ships diverted from West Coast ports, where workers are moving cargo amid contract negotiations.

“We do anticipate the volume tapering off toward the end of this year, or slightly earlier,” Lynch told The Associated Press. “I believe that we have peaked, and we’re on the downhill side of this.”

Nearby ports did not seem to be experiencing the same back-log. More ships are waiting to dock in Savannah than ships waiting at Charleston and Jacksonville combined, based on the marine tracking website.

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