Temporary Vessel Service on Trans-Pacific Route Increased from Twice to Four Times a Month

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government will increase the supply of temporary vessels on the trans-Pacific route and expand dedicated shipping capacity for small and medium-sized exporters to resolve logistics difficulties faced by export companies. A special logistics cost loan program worth 20 billion KRW will also be newly established for small export companies.

On the 7th, the government held the 2nd meeting of the "Export-Import Logistics Emergency Response Task Force (TF)" at the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and announced additional support measures for export-import logistics.

Export companies have been experiencing difficulties in logistics due to the sharp rise in maritime and air freight rates and the shortage of shipping space since the second half of last year. According to a survey conducted by the Export-Import Logistics Comprehensive Response Center from December last year to May this year targeting export companies, the most needed support by companies was identified as expanding vessel supply (39%), freight support (33%), and container securing (7%) in that order.

The government has prepared additional support measures this time in anticipation that the current situation of excess logistics demand and high freight rates will continue for the time being.

First, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries decided, in consultation with HMM, to increase the frequency of temporary vessels operating on the trans-Pacific route from twice a month to four times a month starting in July.

In addition, in collaboration with online logistics company K-Logis, the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Iron & Steel Association, and others, a multipurpose vessel will be temporarily chartered in early July to operate on the trans-Pacific route. The route will be Masan Port → Los Angeles (LA) Port → Houston Port, and the vessel will be a multipurpose ship of approximately 11,400 DWT (about 700 TEU). The target cargo includes finished products, steel, and petrochemical products.

Furthermore, starting in July, 1,000 TEU of shipping space on temporary vessels deployed by HMM on the US West Coast route will be separately allocated for priority loading by small and medium-sized shippers.

From the end of this month, 30 TEU of new dedicated shipping space per week will also be allocated to small and medium-sized shippers on SM Shipping's regular vessels on the US West Coast route.

Accordingly, the dedicated shipping capacity for small and medium-sized shippers on regular vessels on the trans-Pacific route (HMM + SM Shipping) will be expanded from the existing 400 TEU per week to 430 TEU per week.

Along with this, a special logistics cost loan program worth 20 billion KRW will be newly established for small export companies, providing support up to 30 million KRW per company. The support conditions include an interest rate of 1.5% per annum, a 2-year grace period, and a 1-year installment repayment period.

Moon Dongmin, Director of the Trade and Investment Office at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Managing export-import logistics risks is important to maintain the export boom," adding, "We will operate the TF on a regular basis to resolve export-import logistics difficulties and, in the long term, strive to create an ecosystem to enhance the logistics competitiveness of export-import companies."

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