Travelers on some of the streets of Georgetown County saw a rare sight Monday as two oversized containers began the slow transport from the Port of Georgetown to Kershaw in Lancaster County.

The containers weighed a total of 350,000 pounds and were delivered to Georgetown from Europe. The containers were then loaded onto trucks and escorted by State Transport Police during the 140-mile trek to Haile Gold Mine.

Brad Stroble, the South Carolina Ports Authority’s (SCPA) general manager of bulk, breakbulk and project cargo sales, said the project underscores the focus on recruiting specific cargo accounts to Georgetown.

“The Ports Authority has been aggressively building our non-container business for the past few years, including selling Georgetown’s assets that are ideal for shallow-draft vessel and barge work,” he said.  During the first 11 months of 2012, total tonnage in the Port of Georgetown increased more than 24 percent from the same period in 2011, with 492,667 pier tons of cargo handled from January to November.