Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Support 1.9 Billion KRW for Marine Transport Costs of Household Fuel to 298 Island Areas This Year

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 1st that it has allocated a national budget of 1.9 billion KRW to eight local governments this year to support the maritime transportation costs of living fuels for island residents, and has prioritized disbursing about 1.3 billion KRW among this amount. The target local governments are Incheon, Gyeonggi, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gyeongbuk, Gyeongnam, and Jeju.

In island areas, additional transportation costs occur from the mainland to the islands, so island residents bear a higher basic living cost (about 10?20%) than those on the mainland. During bad weather, delays in maritime transportation also occur, leading to high demands for support in this regard.

Accordingly, as part of the government innovation project, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries enacted the 'Shipping Act' in December 2018, the 'Enforcement Rules of the Shipping Act' in May 2019, and the 'Guidelines for Supporting Maritime Transportation Costs of Essential Living Goods in Island Areas' in June 2019, and for the first time disbursed a national budget of 1 billion KRW in June last year. This year, the budget has been expanded to about twice that of last year.

Before the implementation of this project, local governments supported maritime transportation costs differently depending on their financial conditions. However, through this project, the national government and local governments jointly support 50% each of the maritime transportation costs for four types of living fuels?gas, fuel oil, briquettes, and wood pellets?establishing a foundation for the stable transportation of essential fuels for island residents.

Yoon Doo-han, Director of the Coastal Shipping Division at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "We will ensure the seamless support of maritime transportation costs for living fuels for island residents and thoroughly inspect and manage whether the respective local governments execute the funds." He added, "We will continue to prepare various policies to alleviate maritime transportation inconveniences for island residents and improve their living conditions."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.