Colonel’s Island Terminal at Georgia’s Port of Brunswick has become the nation’s busiest port for autos and heavy equipment, handling more than 2 million tons of cargo last year. Georgia Ports president and CEO Griff Lynch announced the news at the Brunswick State of the Port event this week.
The port handled 901,912 units of autos and heavy equipment in 2024, aided by the Georgia Port Authority’s (GPA) $262 million investment in specialized storage space and processing capacity. The investments facilitated a 13.3% increase in autos and a 160% increase in heavy equipment, including farm and construction equipment. The port has commenced construction on a new railyard and is planning a berth for car-carrying ships that should open in 2027.
The Port of Brunswick surpassed the Port of Baltimore, which shut down for weeks following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it was struck by a container ship in March. The Port of Baltimore led the United States in automobile imports and exports for more than a decade, but its total dropped 11% last year following the accident, according to an Associated Press report.
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The Port of Brunswick is often overshadowed by its larger sister port in Savannah. That loader for ships is the fourth-busiest for retail goods and other commodities shipped in containers in the United States, according to AP. But with its investments and upgrades, Brunswick has been attracting business from neighboring ports such as Charleston, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida.
The article said Georgia Port officials are seeking federal funding for improvements to Brunswick’s shipping channel, including widening portions of the waterway to give ships more room to turn. Maintenance dredging is also needed to return the channel to its proper depth of up to 38 feet, Lynch told AP.
“Clearly, Baltimore was handicapped” last year, Lynch said. “We don’t want to take advantage of that. So we’ll see if we maintain it in 2025.”
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
