Maritime news service Alphaliner reported this week that Hutchison will mothball its single-berth Hutchison Gamman Container Terminal May 1. The terminal operator will continue to operate the larger Hutchison Busan Container Terminal at the neighboring Jaesongdae port area. HBCT has four times the berth length of the Gamman terminal.
Both terminals are in the old port at Busan. The Korean port has been trying to migrate container volume to its New Port development some 25 kilometers to the west of central Busan.
Busan volume fell nearly 20 percent in 2010 to 10.8 million TEUs, though it's grown 17 percent in the first two months of 2010, albeit on a low base from early 2009.