Busan readies for port expansion

The South Korean government plans to add 15 berths to its Busan New Port to increase its container capacity by 15.8 million TEUs.    The South Korean government plans to add another 15 berths to its Busan New Port in the south of the country to increase container capacity by 15.8 million TEUs. 
   The new facilities will be a mix of container, feeder, and multi-purpose terminals. Construction will begin in stages, based on cargo demand, and in coordination with the government.
   Development of the Busan New Port started in 1994. The port complex currently operates 22 berths with another eight currently under construction. 
   Busan New Port handled 11.93 million TEUs in 2014, or 64 percent of the total 18.68 million TEUs handled by all the Busan Port Authority’s container terminals.
   “We are on track to achieve a total container throughput of 20 million TEUs by the end of this year and our additional expansion plans will build on this success to cement the position of the port of Busan as one of the very top container ports in the world as well as the leading transshipment hub in northeast Asia,” said Kim Li-tack, BPA president, in a statement.
   The Busan New Port will also host an LNG bunkering facility by 2018 and continues to expand its logistics district, he added.
   To improve the flow of cargo between the old and new ports in the Busan area, BPA will implement an inter-terminal transfer (ITT) system to optimize how trucks and trucking companies operate between the two facilities and to reduce overall cost. “This is the long-term strategy, in the meantime BPA will consider subsidizing ITT costs,” the port authority said.