Busan to expand trans-shipment cargo operations

The Busan Port Authority and the Korean government plan to further strengthen the port’s cargo trans-shipment capabilities to handle 13 million TEUs of trans-shipment cargo by 2020.    The Busan Port Authority, in partnership with the Korean government, plans to further strengthen the Port of Busan’s cargo trans-shipment capabilities to handle 13 million TEUs of trans-shipment cargo by 2020, which would rank the port as the number two trans-shipment port in the world.
   Concrete plans to facilitate this goal include consolidating the container handling activities currently at North Port and New Port into a single New Port location. The port has been attempting to mitigate cargo to New Port, which opened in 2006, for some time. Under the new plans, New Port will see eight new berths by 2020 that will add 6.21 million TEUs of capacity. North Port will then be able to accommodate maritime manufacturing, marinas, cruise terminals and other facilities.
   In addition, a feasibility study will be conducted to investigate further expansion to New Port’s western container terminal.
   Other plans include constructing a feeder terminal to better serve the port’s feeder network, removing Todo island by 2019 and expanding the entrance by the end of 2018, and replacing the current multi-purpose terminal between the north and south container terminals with a yard tractor shuttle road and storage area to efficiently move trans-shipment containers. The port also plans to complete further dredging and install state of the art power-efficient container cranes and transfer cranes.
   Trans-shipment cargo has been growing at a faster rate than local cargo at the port. In 2014, trans-shipment cargo handled at the port surpassed local cargo, accounting for 50.5 percent, or 9.43 million TEUs, a drastic increase from 31.7 percent in 2000.