This story says that Savannah takes in 5.9 million containers a year, compared to around 300,000 in Wilmington. Savannah, Charleston and Norfolk have deeper channels than Wilmington, which is trying to get a dredging project through the corps. It may be the end of the decade.
From the story: “And the Georgia port, like the huge ports in Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va., are already deeper than Wilmington. Charleston now offers a 52-foot draft, while Savannah is at 47 feet at low tide. Norfolk’s channel, which also serves the largest Navy base in the world, is aiming to have 55 feet of depth by mid-decade.”
Wilmington wants to go from 42 to 47 feet.
15 years ago, there was talk about a megaport on the Cape Fear in Brunswick County, but that didn’t go anywhere.