Corps cuts Savannah port deepening by a foot

SAVANNAH -- Federal officials concluded Wednesday that the Savannah River should be deepened by a foot less than previously planned, a change that could limit gains in the port’s ability to handle bigger ships in the future.

In a much-anticipated report, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it’s more cost-effective to deepen to 47 feet instead of the long-proposed 48 feet to handle ever-larger cargo ships that may soon ply East Coast waters.

State and metro Atlanta officials are pushing hard for the deepening due to the port’s importance to the regional economy. Nearly 100,000 jobs in metro Atlanta are directly tied to the distribution of goods that come through Georgia ports. However, a recent examination by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution questioned the supposed job and economic benefits of a deepened port of Savannah.

The corps said the the cost to deepen the river has risen from $629 million to $652 million despite the reduced depth. But the projected economic impact also has jumped, from $115 million a year, according to an earlier, preliminary corps report, to $174 million.

Col. Jeffrey Hall, who commands the corps Savannah district, said the nation gains $5.50 in overall economic benefit for every $1 spent.

“It has really got tremendous benefits for the nation, the bi-state area and Savannah,” Hall said during a riverside press conference. “Today is a major milestone for the project. We are one step closer to being shovel ready.”

The Corps said the extra foot abandoned in the latest plan would have had little extra economic benefit while intensifying opposition from federal and nonprofit environmental agencies.

Despite the change, Georgia and Atlanta officials were pleased that the deepening project reached a critical juncture Wednesday. A final decision by the Corps and the White House is expected this fall, and work would begin early next year and end by 2017.

Congress initially authorized the river to be deepened up to 48 feet. The state of Georgia also sought, and was willing to pay more money for, a 48-foot draft. The deeper the river, in general, the more likely bigger ships will call at a port.

The river now is 42 feet deep. About 80 percent of the ships using the Garden City Terminal are restricted by the river’s shallowness, many spending costly hours at sea awaiting higher tides.

Savannah’s competitors -- Charleston, Jacksonville, Miami, Norfolk -- have or plan to have ports deepened to 50 feet.

A 47-foot depth “is a disadvantage because everybody else will be 50 feet,” said Asaf Ashar, a maritime expert at the University of New Orleans. “But it is not a fatal blow. Many ports are limited. But if it was their own decision, I’m sure the (Georgia) ports authority would have added the money to get to 50 feet.”

Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia ports, has said “everybody would love to get to 50 feet” and once pushed hard for 48 feet. Georgia officials even agreed to cover the difference in dredging costs between 47 and 48 feet.

Wednesday, Foltz said he supports 47 feet.

“All off the economic models say this depth will service the trade very well,” he said. “We’ve been the shallowest port in the Southeast for a decade, yet we’ve also been the fastest-growing port.”

Rick Wen, a vice president with Hong Kong-based OOCL , a top 10 shipping company, said the 1-foot difference could translate to 800 containers per ship. Importers won’t likely shy away from Savannah’s shallower depth, Wen said, because in-bound cargo is generally light weight and doesn’t need as much leeway. But exporters who ship heavy Georgia kaolin, timber and machinery “will definitely be affected,” he added.

“Forty-eight feet is ideal,” said Wen, who spent two decades in Savannah and Charleston working for OOCL, which runs four ships through Savannah weekly. “Having deep water is what’s critical for us to be able to maintain schedules, not burn more fuel, be more efficient and not cost more money.”

The corps report concluded that deepening to 47 feet will save shipping companies, retailers like Atlanta’s Home Depot and U.S. and foreign manufacturers $174 million in transportation costs each year by enabling better access to the Savannah port.

The corps did not predict longterm jobs resulting from the project, though its report said the deepening will generate 11,000 jobs each year during construction.

Georgia taxpayers will cover 30 percent of the $652 million cost with the federal government shouldering the rest. The state has already raised $180 million. Washington has only pledged $5.8 million and doubts remain about whether Congress and the White House will come up with the rest.

Col. Hall expects Washington to find the money.

“The most compelling argument for why we feel so strongly that we’ll receive federal money is the benefit-cost ratio -- which is a really phenomenal benefit to the nation,” he said.