Yeosu Maritime Affairs Office, Public Recruitment for Passenger Ship Departing from Geomundo

Published 16 Nov.2021 16:42(KST)

[Yeosu=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Sim Kyung-taek] The Jeonnam Yeosu Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office announced that it will proceed with a public offering for operators to deploy passenger ships departing from Yeosu on the Yeosu~Geomeon route, which has been suspended.

The Yeosu~Geomeon route calls at Yeosu, Narodo, Sonjukdo, Chodo, Dongdo, Seodo, and Geomeondo, covering a total sailing distance of 105.6 km. Based on the currently operating high-speed vessels, the sailing time takes approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes.

This route saw two vessels operated by two companies after a new operator was selected through a public offering and began service in February 2021. In April of the same year, one of the operators changed its departure point to Geomeondo, an island area, resulting in two vessels from two companies operating cross routes between Yeosu and Geomeondo.

However, since passenger ship operations departing from Yeosu were suspended after July 2021, passengers wishing to visit Geomeondo had to spend 2 to 3 days traveling via Sonjukdo, Chodo, and Geomeondo (including Dongdo and Seodo), causing transportation inconveniences.

Accordingly, Geomeondo residents are demanding a public offering to allow a new operator to be deployed on the Yeosu~Geomeon route, and the Yeosu Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office is reviewing the public offering for a new operator.

For reference, the Yeosu~Geomeon route had over 200,000 passengers before 2013, but the number decreased to 140,000 in 2019 and further dropped to 86,000 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, among the total passengers, non-island residents accounted for 74% in 2013 and 63% in 2019, indicating that tourists other than island residents used the route more frequently, showing potential to increase demand.