The Port of Savannah has broken yet another record by handling more than 1,000,000 TEU's during Fiscal Year 2001 (ending June 30, 2001). Figures of 1,020,000 TEU's surpasses last fiscal year's record of 849,386 TEU's by 20%. Having established the first fully operational container terminal in the U.S. South Atlantic some three decades ago, the Port of Savannah joins an exclusive list of approximately 50 ports worldwide that report annual container throughput levels exceeding 1 million TEU's.

"With the arrival of Savannah's millionth TEU, there's a sense of excitement and accomplishment that permeates throughout the entire Georgia maritime community," stated Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Doug J. Marchand. "We have to begin by congratulating everyone involved- our customers, our employees, the entire maritime community and transportation providers, to the stevedores and freight forwarders. This was an all-out team effort and I thank each and everyone involved for their contributions toward this extraordinary accomplishment."

The Port of Savannah will have achieved 13 consecutive years of record container throughput growth. In fact, during that 13 year span the port will have moved more than 8 million TEU's, enough to stretch end to end for 30,000 miles (48,280 km).

During Fiscal Year 2001, 46% of Savannah's 1.02 million TEU's were import related. Fueled by such cargo as department store goods (i.e. textiles, electronics, toys, etc.), a large portion of which is of Asian origin, an increasing percentage of this cargo is destined to high-volume import distribution centers in the Savannah area.

Added Marchand, "To sustain our growth and our vital role as one of Georgia's most productive economic engines, we will aggressively challenge the competition and we will sensibly plan and implement improvements to further enhance our services in order to meet our customers' diversified needs."

Since Fiscal Year 1995, the GPA has invested more than $180 million in Savannah's container terminal operations and over $240 million in facility improvements overall.

A ceremony marking the 1 millionth TEU achievement was held before Georgia maritime professionals and elected officials. During the event, a container symbolic of the 1 millionth unit was lowered from a berthed vessel by container crane to an awaiting jockey. Adorned with a banner reading "Thanks A Million. Celebrating the Port of Savannah's 1 Millionth TEU during Fiscal Year 2001.", the container was positioned near the crowd for photo opportunities and a post-ceremony news conference given by GPA Executive Director Doug J. Marchand.

Georgia's public and private port sector activities directly or indirectly support 80,100 jobs.