Busan New Port eyes bigger capacity with new 15-berth plan

Busan New Port, where developments started in 1994, today operates 22 berths with an additional eight currently under construction.

The new facilities at the New Port will be a mix of container terminals, feeder terminals and multi-purpose terminals, according to Busan Port Authority (BPA).

The total container throughput at Busan port reached 18.68m in 2014 with the New Port accounting for 64% or 11.93m teu.

“We are on track to achieve a total container throughput of 20m teu by the end of this year and our additional expansion plans will build on this success to cement the position of the port of Busan as one of the very top container ports in the world as well as the leading transhipment hub in northeast Asia,” said Lim Ki-tack, president of BPA.

“Alongside the creation of the 15 new berths we have exciting plans to develop a LNG bunkering facility by 2018 and continued growth of our logistics distripark,” he added.

In addition, to facilitate the flow of cargo between the old and new ports (a distance of 25km), BPA is working on implementing an inter-terminal transfer (ITT) platform to optimize how trucks and trucking companies operate between the two facilities, and to reduce overall cost. This is a long-term strategy, and in the meantime BPA will consider subsidising ITT costs.