BUSAN < invest Korea

The world’s largest container ships are coming to the Busan Port. According to the Busan Port Authority (BPA), the Alexander Von Humboldt containership - by the world’s third largest container shipping group, CMA CGM - will enter the Busan New Container Terminal (BNCT) of the Busan New Port on April 19.

The Alexander Von Humboldt, which weighs 175,343 tons and was built by Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Corporation, can load 16,022 6m-long containers. Its deck is 396m long and 53.6m wide, which is equivalent to the size of four soccer fields combined. Running between Asia and Europe, it loads 800 containers at the Busan Port and departs for Shanghai, China.

Also, the Ebba Maersk containership - by the world’s largest container shipping corporation, A.P. Moller-Maersk Group - will enter the PNC terminal of Busan New Port this month. The Ebba Maersk, which is 397.7m long and 56.5m wide, is the world’s largest containership, with a load capacity of 15,500 containers.

Ships with a carrying capacity of 13,000 TEU (1 TEU is equivalent to a 6m-long container) entered the Busan Port 52 times the first three months of this year, which marks a 21 percent increase from a year earlier. To attract super large vessels, BPA is carrying out aggressive marketing activities and providing ships weighing 10,000 tons or more with benefits, such as exemption of entry, departure, docking, and anchorage fees.

“With the world’s largest containerships entering, the Busan Port will be internationally recognized as an excellent harbor well equipped with port infrastructures,” said a BPA official.

Source: Newsis (Apr. 17, 2013)

** This article was translated from the Korean.