The US port of Savannah handled 330,539 TEU in February, an increase of 7.7 per cent year on year, while total cargo moved across all of the Georgia Ports Authority's (GPA) docks rose 10 per cent to 2.94 million tons.

GPA executive director Griff Lynch said: "With the coming realignment of the shipping alliances in April, Savannah will offer more container services than any other east coast or Gulf port, at 35 weekly vessel calls."

Mr Lynch said Savannah's Ocean Terminal also achieved significant growth, with a 9.2 per cent increase in breakbulk cargo in February, led by linerboard, iron, steel and autos.

"A 38 per cent increase in iron and steel is a good leading indicator of future growth in construction, as well as automobile and other manufacturing," he said.

Additionally, the ports chief noted that Savannah's Garden City Terminal has commissioned a new neo-Panamax ship-to-shore crane, with three more set to come online by mid-April. A separate, US$45.3 million order will bring four more cranes to the terminal in 2018, for a total of 30.

From July through December 2016, the port of Savannah received 31 calls from 10,000-TEU plus vessels - matched only by Norfolk and New York-New Jersey on the US east coast.