Washington Targets Spanish Ships as Savannah Wins Green Light for Mega-Terminal

The US maritime regulator moved this week to penalize Spain over its treatment of American-flagged vessels, opening a new front in transatlantic trade tensions. In Georgia, the Port of Savannah cleared the final federal hurdle for its biggest expansion yet.

The Federal Maritime Commission on Wednesday proposed a $200,000 fee on every voyage a Spanish-flagged ship makes into a US port. It also outlined possible curbs on Spanish imports, including olive oil, cosmetics, ceramics, stone goods and confectionery. The measures are not yet in force and are open to public comment for 60 days.

The dispute dates to November 2024, when Spain refused port access to three US-flagged vessels, including the Maersk Denver and Maersk Seletar, operated by Maersk Line, Limited. Spain cited rules on defense and dual-use cargo linked to Israel. The ships sail under the Maritime Administration’s Maritime Security Program, which supports commercial vessels that are available for national defense. The commission said nearly all ships in the program have since stopped calling at Spanish ports. Madrid said it would defend its interests in coordination with the European Commission.

The commission based the fee on an inflation-adjusted levy imposed on Japanese carriers in 1997. It acknowledged that relatively few Spanish-flagged vessels call at US ports.

In Georgia, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the permit for the $2.3 billion Savannah Container Terminal after a three-year review, Georgia Ports Authority President Kevin Price said Wednesday. The 395-acre site on Hutchinson Island will become the port’s third container terminal and add 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units of capacity. Construction is set to begin in January 2028.

The project is central to the authority’s plan to turn Savannah into a 12 million-unit gateway, up from current capacity of 7.75 million units. A separate overhaul of the Ocean Terminal is due to raise that facility’s capacity to 1.75 million units by the end of 2028.