Cold Chain
Special Report
South by southeast
Seaboard restarts South America service calling at Savannah
By Michael Angell
Seaboard Marine is resuming a weekly service connecting the Port of Savannah to the Caribbean and South America. The service comes as Savannah prepares to open a new on-site customs facility intended to serve cold-chain shippers that are likely customers for the service.
The Georgia Ports Authority( GPA) said Seaboard has reinstated its direct, weekly shipping service between Savannah and the Colombian ports of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta, along with Río Haina, Dominican Republic.
GPA’ s $ 44 million cold-chain facility will offer on-terminal customs inspections.
The first Savannah call was on Jan. 7 by the 1,781-TEU Seaboard Gemini. The ship made its southbound sailing on Jan. 14, officially launching its schedule.
“ We are providing importers and exporters across the Southeast with improved transit times, greater schedule integrity, and the reliability they need to grow their businesses,” Piero Buitano, Seaboard’ s senior vice president, said in a joint statement.
GPA Chief Commercial Officer Flavio Batista said the service provide offers cold-chain and transshipment options to and from the West Coast of South America. The service offers weekly Wednesday arrivals and departures in Savannah.
To support this service, the GPA will open a US Customs exam site at its Garden City Terminal by the spring. The $ 44 million facility will offer on-terminal agricultural inspections in temperature-controlled environments, direct vessel discharge to inspection sites and multi-temperature zones designed for various produce types, allowing for 16 inspections per day, according to the GPA.
In 2025, Savannah handled 12,412 TEUs of imports from Colombia and the Dominican Republic, a 21 % drop from the year earlier, according to PIERS, a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global. Exports to the two countries out of Savannah totaled 10,923 TEUs through November 2025, PIERS data show, a 25 % drop from the comparable 2024 period.
email: michael. angell @ spglobal. com
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44 Journal of Commerce | March 2, 2026 www. joc. com