The director at the US port of Georgetown said the dredging situation there is now bad enough that the port turns away cargo and diverts it to Charleston, according to The Sun-News.

Such actions could continue to prove costly for the local area unless federal lawmakers allocate about US$8 million to remove the silt at the bottom of the port's waterway and restore its depth to 27 ft, according to a recent study.

Every 500,000 tonnes of cargo that passes annually through the port of Georgetown brings in about 42 new jobs for the area, $1.3 million in new local household income and $4.4 million in local economic output, according to a study by research economist Don Schunk from Coastal Carolina University.

The study was commissioned by The Georgetown County Alliance for Economic Development to show the economic impact of the port of Georgetown.