Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries: "Domestic Shipping Revenue to Recover to 40 Trillion Won This Year"... Accelerating Shipping Reconstruction

Deployment of Eight 16,000 TEU-Class Container Ships... Expanding Deep-Sea Container Capacity to 1.05 Million TEU
Fostering Korean-Style Shipowners and Launching K-Alliance in the First Half of the Year

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government plans to expand domestic shipping revenue to 40 trillion won this year by continuously pursuing 'shipping reconstruction,' including deploying eight ultra-large container ships of 16,000 TEU (1 TEU = one 20-foot container) class and increasing the capacity of national vessels. It will foster a Korean-style shipowner company that purchases up to 10 vessels annually and provides them to national shipping companies, and also establish a Korean-style shipping alliance called 'K-Alliance.'

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced this business plan on the 29th.

First, to ensure the shipping reconstruction goals are achieved without fail, multifaceted support will be provided, aiming to recover shipping revenue from last year's level of 36 trillion won to 40 trillion won this year, the level before Hanjin Shipping's bankruptcy.

First, the capacity of deep-sea container vessels will be expanded from the current 780,000 TEU to 1,050,000 TEU. To this end, eight 16,000 TEU-class container ships will be deployed, and additional orders for new ships up to 100,000 TEU will be placed.

As competition intensifies on intra-Asia routes, about 300 billion won will be invested to launch the K-Alliance within the first half of the year. Through vessel expansion and container box lease support, the capacity of national vessels on Korea-to-Southeast Asia routes will be increased from the current 190,000 TEU to 250,000 TEU. This aims to enhance the competitiveness of domestic shipping companies, whose market share on Southeast Asia routes has been shrinking due to aggressive investments by global shipping companies.

To quickly supply vessels amid export logistics disruptions, the Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Corporation will purchase up to 10 vessels annually starting this year and provide them to national shipping companies until 2025, totaling 50 vessels. The corporation will also diversify its guarantee methods to include credit and contract performance guarantees to strengthen support for the shipping industry.

Park Junyoung, Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, explained, "Considering the demand for vessels from shipping companies in the first half of the year, the Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Corporation, which will act as a shipowner, will decide the number of vessels to be built and purchased this year," adding, "We plan to establish a leasing-specialized subsidiary that will act as a shipowner around 2022."

In addition, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to reduce marine plastic waste by 50% within 10 years, targeting 59,000 tons by 2030, and cut annual greenhouse gas emissions from marine and fisheries sectors from 4.11 million tons by more than half.

Meanwhile, regarding the Fair Trade Commission's investigation into freight rate collusion among shipping companies, Vice Minister Park said, "No conclusion has been reached yet," and added, "We are emphasizing the characteristics of the shipping market and the role of the shipping industry in our explanations to the Fair Trade Commission." This is interpreted as indicating that joint actions are permitted under the Shipping Act, making it difficult to consider the case as collusion.

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