Throughput rises as Charleston prepares for 13,000 teu vessel

Container volumes rose by 13.4% at Charleston in March compared to last year, as the port gears up to handle a 13,092 teu vessel in May, the largest to ever call the US East Coast.

Charleston handled 108,961 boxes while South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) as a whole saw volumes increase by 16.8% in the first three months of this year to 553,248 teu.

Jim Newsome, SCPA president and CEO, said: “With the highest container volume ever handled by our port and record rail moves at Inland Port Greer, March was an exceptionally strong finish to the third [fiscal] quarter.