At the Brunswick State of the Port event, Georgia Ports President and CEO Griff Lynch said Colonel’s Island Terminal has become the nation’s busiest port for autos and heavy equipment, handling more than 2 million tons of Roll-on/Roll-off cargo in 2024.
Brunswick also took the top spot in the nation for RoRo exports last year, at 600,000 tons, according to USATradeonline.
In terms of individual RoRo units, Brunswick achieved a record year, handling 901,912 units of autos and heavy equipment in 2024. Autos are up 13.3% and heavy equipment is up 160% due to the GPA investment in specialized storage space and processing capacity.
GPA completed $262 million in improvements at the Port of Brunswick in 2024, adding new warehousing and processing space, as well as 122 acres of RoRo cargo storage. Construction has started on a new railyard on Colonel’s Island, while a fourth berth for RoRo vessels is in the engineering phase.
“This is an important milestone in our journey to be the best RoRo port in the industry,” Lynch said. “I would like to thank our customers for their continued trust in GPA, and our partners - the ILA, auto processors and Brunswick Pilots for making Colonel’s Island the nation’s premier RoRo port.”
He said new infrastructure and strengthened partnerships are paving the way for continued growth in Roll-on/Roll-off capacity and trade at Georgia Ports.
PORT INFRASTRUCTURE
“Our vision is to design, build and operate the #1 RoRo port in the world with our customers and partners. Across-the-board improvements in our shipping channel, berths, rail capacity, storage and processing capacity will help ensure that as their volumes grow, our customers will continue to enjoy world-class service and make long-term gains in their business” said GPA Board Chairman Kent Fountain. “No other RoRo port in the nation offers the opportunity to scale up operations like Colonel’s Island, through our long-term commitments to infrastructure.”
A new railyard on the south side of Colonel’s Island Terminal will increase the port’s capacity to export vehicles arriving by rail. Improvements to the existing Myd Harris Yard will bring rail switching onto the terminal in a benefit to the neighboring community.
“Our growth comes as auto manufacturers seek to increase their business through Georgia,” Lynch said. “This project will expand capacity, improve our ability to serve inland factories, and increase the safety of rail operations, both on- and off-terminal and lessen our community impact with our port neighbors.”
Lynch said the added capacity will extend Brunswick’s service area, because moving cargo from farther-to-reach inland factories to the Georgia coast is more cost effective by rail than truck.
Phase I of the new railyard will increase the port’s annual rail capacity from approximately 150,000 autos to more than 340,000 by mid-2025. Phase II will bring annual rail capacity to 590,000 units, greater than three times the current capacity. More than 90 percent of vehicles moving by rail in Brunswick are U.S.-made exports.
Separately, construction on a fourth Ro/Ro berth is in the planning stages and expected to start in Summer 2025. The new berth should be complete in 2027 and will more efficiently accommodate vessels carrying 10,800+ car equivalent units (CEU).
STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS
Lynch reported to the crowd assembled at the Jekyll Island Convention Center that GPA signed a 20-year agreement with Wallenius Wilhelmsen in April 2024 consolidating the company’s Georgia logistics operations at the Port of Brunswick.
“At its expanded Brunswick facility, WW is not only handling RoRo processing, but also order fulfillment for heavy equipment, configuring the machinery for the end user before delivery,” Lynch said. “We’re excited to be handling this additional business at Colonel’s Island, the nation’s most efficient gateway for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo.”
Consolidating WW’s trade through Georgia is part of GPA’s two-pillar port strategy, which calls for all RoRo cargo to be located in Brunswick, and container trade in Savannah.
For GPA, specializing the ports according to cargo type improves efficiency and creates centers of excellence.
Brunswick has become a center of excellence for RoRo with the new future berth, processing and land, connectivity and harbor modifications.
For customers such as Wallenius Wilhelmsen and International Auto Processing, expanding Brunswick infrastructure means greater ability to target new business opportunities for future growth.
GROWING POPULATION, BIGGER SHIPS
Lynch said market forces favor the continued expansion of Brunswick trade.
Two major factors include the rise of manufacturing and a growing population in the U.S. Southeast. These combined factors will drive more exports and imports to the port. Auto exports are on the increase, growing by 9 percent in 2024 and auto imports are also on the rise at Colonel’s Island, up by 20 percent last year compared to 2023.
Another important factor favoring trade through Colonel’s Island: Bigger ships are on the way.
Lynch said the Port of Brunswick anticipates handling larger vessels, carrying a greater number of autos and heavy equipment. The typical Ro/Ro vessel today has a range of 4,000 to 8,000 CEUs. Lynch said RoRo carriers are expected to bring 10,800 CEU vessels to Brunswick in the next two to three years.
“Similar to the dynamic of growing container ships, these larger RoRo vessels are expected to call on fewer ports and handle greater influxes of RoRo units during each visit,” he said. “The 1,700-acre Colonel’s Island Terminal is uniquely qualified to handle these larger transactions thanks to our scale of operations and efficiency.”
HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS
In addition to on-terminal improvements, federal projects will also upgrade the shipping channel in Brunswick. Lynch said the channel improvements will help ensure Brunswick is ready to handle the larger vessels headed its way.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and the state legislature have allocated just over $6 million for special harbor improvements at the Port of Brunswick. This allocation will go to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as Georgia’s share of the project costs. The Corps’ plan includes a bend widener and expansion of the turning basin. An expanded vessel meeting area at St. Simons Sound will improve safety for vessels passing each other in two-way traffic.
Congress has approved nearly $38 million for Brunswick, including the $11.35 million federal share of the harbor improvements project. Another $26.6 million is designated for dredging the federal waterway to its full authorized depth of 36 feet in the inner harbor, 38 feet in the outer harbor.
To date, the federal funding and procurement process has fallen short for both the annual maintenance dredging and the harbor modification project. It is imperative the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers identifies a workable solution for these projects of national significance.
The global fleet of RoRo ships is getting larger in size with the number of 4000-8000 CEU (car equivalent units) the most common newbuild size as ocean carriers invest to keep pace with booming RoRo demand. Larger, newer vessels bring more sustainable engines and best practices but also place new demands on harbor channel infrastructure depth and width. Federal agencies must keep pace with this global trend by performing timely dredging to maintain safe channels in a dependable, proactive manner.
