The hottest spot in Georgia this summer? Savannah’s cargo container docks.

SAVANNAH ― Historically speaking, the Georgia Ports Authority should be on the shipping industry’s version of summer break right now.

Terminals typically see a slump in June, July and August in the time between when back-to-school goods move through the port and the start of the holiday gift cargo season.

Instead, summer is slamming in 2026.

Nearly half a million container units moved through the authority’s Savannah terminals in June. The surge nearly erased a year-over-year deficit in volume as the port recorded its third-busiest fiscal year on record — amidst a bevy of economic and geopolitical uncertainties, from inflation to tariffs to war in the Middle East.

“You all took the cards that were dealt and did an amazing job,” Alec Poitevint, chair of the GPA board, told the authority’s executive team during a Tuesday morning meeting. “Your organization is elite and when you are elite it’s a great challenge to stay there.”

The ports authority closed out the fiscal year ending June 30 having moved 5.67 million containers compared to 5.7 million a year ago. Georgia also gained in market share versus other U.S port states, according to CEO Griff Lynch. Numbers won’t be official until September, but ocean carrier data indicates Georgia’s share of U.S. cargo will climb from 10.5% to 10.7%.

And the first few months of the new fiscal year, which opened July 1, look promising, Lynch said.

“The ships are full,” he said. “If anything, we’d like to see more vessel capacity.”

Yet Lynch stopped short of predicting a benchmark year ahead. Customers imported an unprecedented amount of goods in late 2025 because of fears of a larger trade and tariff war, and the current surge is likely due to restocking of inventories.

The outlook beyond August is “fuzzy,” Lynch said. Industry analysts remain uncertain whether shipping will return to more consistent levels or if peaks and valleys will continue as businesses respond to changing economic conditions.

Another factor is the status of shipping through the Suez Canal, which links the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea. Two of GPA’s biggest ocean carrier customers, Maersk and CMA CGM, recently resumed transits of the canal after two-and-a-half years of diverting their vessels away from the trade corridor amid threats from missile-wielding Houthi militants.

The risk forced ships moving between India, an emerging manufacturing center, and the U.S. East Coast to detour around the tip of Africa, adding 10 days or more to the journey and suppressing cargo volumes. Imports from India, the Georgia Ports Authority’s fourth-largest trading partner, dipped 3.4% for the fiscal year.

Renewed safe passage through the Suez Canal could be a boon for Savannah.

With that unpredictability in mind, Lynch is predicting another “flat year” in terms of volumes. The last two fiscal years have been the second- and third-busiest on record, ranking behind only 2022, when supply chains were recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Georgia’s ports saw a temporarily slump last summer when shipping slowed to a crawl after the Trump administration imposed “Liberation Day” tariffs. New trade deals took effect in June and July of last year, leading to a surge in volumes in August and September. Traffic has waffled up and down since.

Yet the long-range forecast continues to call for 54% growth over the next 10 years, from 5.7 million containers to 8.8 million. The projection is driven by shifts in manufacturing centers and trade routes, with goods makers diversifying beyond China to India and nearby neighbors Vietnam and Thailand.

Cargo from those countries comes to the U.S. across the Atlantic Ocean, increasing business for East Coast ports. China-made products move across the Pacific Ocean, with ships visiting West Coast ports first.

The Georgia Port Authority is reconfiguring Ocean Terminal in Savannah to handle additional cargo container traffic. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Positioning the ports authority for that future will be the focus for the rest of 2026 and 2027, Lynch said. The ports authority is in the midst of a series of facility improvements at its marine facilities in Savannah and Brunswick.