Business, Feature, Freight News, Sea

Brunswick Continues Record Ro-ro Pace

[ July 12, 2024   //   Gary G Burrows ]

Though the Georgia Ports Authority benefitted greatly from roll-on, roll-off cargoes diverted from the Port of Baltimore following the closure of that shipping channel, the Port of Brunswick is on pace to handle more than 860,000 ro-ro units at Colonel’s Island Terminal in fiscal year ended June 30.
The Port of Brunswick handled a record 86,577 units of roll-on, roll-off cargo in May, an increase of more than 18,000 units or 26 percent compared to May 2023.
”The recent addition of 120 acres of processing space, along with hundreds more acres available for development, make Colonel’s Island Terminal uniquely able to expand along with the needs of car manufacturers,” said Georgia Ports Authority President and CEO Griff Lynch.
GPA estimated roughly half of the machinery increase and about 15 percent of the auto increase in May was related to the Baltimore bridge collapse. Brunswick saw a larger impact on machinery, because most units were exports that had to be sent to GPA well before Baltimore’s ro-ro channel reopened in mid-May.
High/heavy machinery more than tripled GPA’s monthly average for the fiscal year, with 4,300 units through April, with exports totaling 3,440 units. This followed GPA’s shift of ro-ro cargo previously handled at Savannah’s Ocean Terminal to Brunswick, as well as the diversion of some high/heavy units that normally would have exported via Baltimore.
Luxury vehicle exports to China were a highlight among Asian trade lanes, which along with services to Europe featured strong import-export business in finished vehicles last month, the port authority said.
The auto port at Colonel’s Island Terminal handled 57 vessels in May, an increase of 12 ships compared to the same month last year.
Overall, auto processors handled more than 23,000 auto exports and 54,550 auto imports in May. On-site processing at the 1,700-acre facility means vehicles do not need to be hauled off-port for services such as installing electronics and other accessories.
The May performance brings Georgia Ports volumes for the current fiscal year ending May 31, to 796,000 units of autos and high/heavy machinery, up 20 percent compared to the same period in 2023.

Tags: Port of Brunswick