Government Provides $3 Billion Ship Financing Support to National Shipping Companies

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The government will provide up to $3 billion in ship financing to domestic shipping companies. Through this, the domestic shipping company HMM has decided to order 12 container ships of 13,000 TEU class.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the "Strategy to Realize a Leading Nation in the Shipping Industry" jointly with related ministries on the 29th, containing these details.

This strategy consists of two main promotion strategies under the vision of becoming a global leader in the shipping industry by 2030: the development and supplementation of the shipping reconstruction plan and the preparation of future growth engines.

First, four institutions including the Korea Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea Asset Management Corporation, and Korea Ocean Business Corporation will establish a policy finance newbuilding support program to promote $1.5 billion in ship financing, which may be expanded up to $3 billion if necessary considering future newbuilding demand.

They are also considering applying the New Deal Infrastructure Fund tax benefits (9% low-rate separate taxation on dividend income) for individual investors in public offering funds related to high-efficiency and eco-friendly ships. Through this, HMM will order 12 container ships of 13,000 TEU class, and plans to support shipbuilding and equipment companies in developing process automation technologies and manpower.

The government will enhance the reduction of handling fees and service stability of domestic shipping companies by securing global hub terminals such as the US West Coast, and in the second half of the year, will establish and operate overseas hub port joint logistics centers through joint investments by port authorities and private sectors at the ports of Barcelona and Rotterdam. In Incheon, a smart logistics center and attraction of return and manufacturing companies will be completed by 2023, and in Busan by 2025.

The Korea Ocean Business Corporation will pilot the Korean-style shipowner business using the operating lease (BBC) method. It plans to purchase up to 10 ships this year and up to 50 ships by 2025 to operate them at reasonable charter rates.

Additionally, to prepare future growth engines, it will invest 254 billion KRW by 2031 aiming for the phased full commercialization of zero-carbon ships by 2050 and plans to convert 529 ships to eco-friendly vessels by 2030, raising the domestic eco-friendly ship ratio to 15%.

Through the Gwangyang Port automated port testbed promoted until 2026, it will introduce the system to Busan Port and Jinhae New Port, and invest 160.3 billion KRW by 2025 to develop autonomous ship technology.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries plans to achieve shipping sales of over 70 trillion KRW, an ocean container ship capacity of over 1.5 million TEU, and a controlled fleet of over 140 million DWT by 2030 through these efforts.

Minister Moon Seong-hyeok of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries stated, "While the first half of the five-year shipping reconstruction plan focused on restoring the shipping industry's status before the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping, the latter half aims to leap forward as a global leading country, and we will faithfully implement the policy tasks prepared in this strategy."

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