More good news was announced for the Port of Virginia after a record-setting August.

The facilities moved 240,605 twenty-foot equivalent units in August, a 2.2-percent increase over the same month last year and the most productive August in port history, according to a Sept. 8 press release.

This news comes after the port was the first call for the CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 28, the largest ship to ever call the U.S. East Coast at 14,400 TEU capacity. Its twin, the John Adams, called last Wednesday.

Total TEU volumes are up 7.4 percent on a calendar-year basis, with increases across all modes of transport, according to the press release. The port is working with the Army Corps of Engineers to study the economic advantages of dredging the port’s channel depth from 50 to 55 feet to accommodate larger vessels.

“The number of ship calls is dropping, but the vessels are getting bigger, so we are continuing our effort to ensure our channels are deeper, wider and safer to accommodate two-way maritime traffic,” Virginia Port Authority Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director John Reinhart stated in the press release.

On Sept. 8, an Operations Alert was posted on the VPA website recognizing the victims and concerns of Hurricane Irma in Florida and the Southeast.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which is responsible for managing port access and all planned vehicle movements, had no plans as of that post to limit access to the harbor.

“Subject to forecast changes, The Port of Virginia will maintain a ‘business as usual’ operating position as Irma passes inland, well to our west,” according to the post.