Ports Continue Centuries-Old War

It's no secret Savannah and Charleston are coastal cities in a centuries-old contest for prestige and bragging rights.

But today, the war is for dominance in the global container-shipping business. Savannah's once-sleepy port won out in the first decade of the 2000s, expanding at just the right time as Charleston stumbled, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“We lost our focus and that cost us our competitive edge. You cannot be successful in this business if you’re not competitive," SCPA president and CEO Jim Newsome told the newspaper.

South Carolina may have allowed Savannah to eat its lunch a decade ago, but now it is deadset on stopping its neighbor from doing it again. Savannah is now the nation's No. 4 container port; Charleston is No. 10.

South Carolina is fighting to make Savannah's harbor-deepening efforts as difficult as possible, according to the story. And plans for a joint Jasper Terminal on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River are all but dead, the newspaper reports.

Both cities need to deepen its harbors to accomodate larger ships that will come from the expanded Panama Canal. in both cities, as well has a handful of other U.S. ports.

Savannah officials say expanding both ports makes sense and that both stand to gain when business from But South Carolina officials say it's easier to be gracious when you're the larger port.

“We are fierce competitors — we compete for business every day,” Newsome said. “We have a lot of work in front of us but, fortunately, this is a long-cycle business. It won’t happen overnight, but we will be back."