Georgia’s Port of Savannah is coping with backlogs of more than 20 ships in recent weeks, including 24 that were waiting at sea for berth space at the country’s fourth-largest container port earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The port, a critical gateway for goods heading into the U.S. Southeast and Midwest, has been inundated with shipments by retailers rushing to restock inventories ahead of the holidays. Large loads have overwhelmed trucking operations that connect Savannah’s shipments to inland points.

The backlog is the largest among East Coast ports that generally haven’t faced the kind of congestion that has snarled operations on the West Coast — including a persistent backup of container ships at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that stretched to 66 container ships this week.