The State Ports Authority changed course on Tuesday and decided to work toward developing a deepwater port on Georgia-owned land in the Savannah River south of Hardeeville.

"To the people of Jasper County who have fought for this project, I would say, help is on the way," said ports board Chairman Harry J. Butler Jr. of Georgetown.

"We intend to bring the full faith and resources of the state of South Carolina to bear on this project."

Jasper County has long proceeded in its ports effort without any help from the authority, which already operates facilities in Charleston, Georgetown and Port Royal.

An authority press release on Tuesday cited "a compelling market demand for new port capacity," and said the resolution to acquire the Jasper County site "authorized the initiation of condemnation proceedings, if necessary

Board member Tom Davis of Beaufort said, "International trade through the South Atlantic will rise 4.9 percent a year over the next two decades, more than the U.S. and North Atlantic averages. That means trade is poised to double in 20 years.

"Port capacity is a serious concern for our industry, our nation and our state," he added.

Jasper County officials have worked for at least five years to develop a deepwater port on the site right across the Savannah River from Elba Island in Chatham County and just down the river from downtown Savannah's River Street.

Georgia owns and uses the 1,776-acre site to dump dredge spoil to keep the Savannah Harbor navigable for some of the world's largest freighters.

After several years in lower courts, Jasper's original condemnation of the land was heard by the S.C. Supreme Court, which in September 2003 ruled against the taking.

The justices said the condemnation violated state law because it would result in taking private property by force and handing it over to a private company, SSA Marine, a Seattle-based company with offices in Savannah, Charleston and other seaports in North and Central America.

Jasper County officials renewed their port efforts earlier this month, with a different tact.

Jasper County offered to buy the property from the Georgia Department of Transportation for about $8.5 million on Jan. 7, said County Administrator Andrew Fulghum.

Fulghum said Tuesday night he had not been notified of the ports authority's action.

"I have no idea why they would want to do this after we have already made a proposal to the Georgia Department of Transportation," he said.

Fulghum said he was going to give the new information regarding the ports authority board's decision to the Jasper County Council at Tuesday night's meeting.

In Jasper's latest plan for the port, SSA Marine, through its subsidiary South Atlantic Internal Terminal LLC, would loan Jasper $15 million to buy the land and pay legal, permitting and design costs, and to build the ship terminal.

The $450 million needed initially to build the port would come through "permanent financing" or "credit enhancement," Jasper officials have said.

Davis praised Jasper County's efforts to launch a port at the site.

Butler said the ports authority would begin moving on project immediately.