Pusan to develop 45 berths by 2011

The Port of Pusan is scheduled to develop a total of 45 berths, including the Pusan New Harbor project, to solve its lack of port facilities by 2011.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries is looking for opinions from relevant government bodies, such as the Pusan Regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries and the City of Pusan, regarding the Port of Pusan development plans. These plans are a product of the national trading port development plans that the Korea Maritime Institute and the Korea Port Technology Association is researching, and are scheduled to be filed with the government by August.

The plans show that the Northern Port would allow container handling in general wharves by 2011 for a predetermined time period and would then turn to handling commodities and steel. A passenger cruise terminal for 50,000 ton vessels will also be built in Dongsam-dong.

At the Kamcheon terminal, SsangYong Cement Industrial Co.,Ltd. will build its own cement wharf for 20,000 ton vessels by 2006. The Kamcheon terminal will also add a sand wharf consisting of two berths with government funding.

The Dadaepo terminal will contract for five berths by 2011 instead of its original nine, conscious of local resistance and possible negative effects on the environment. The remaining berths will be considered after 2011. Originally the Dadaepo terminal planned to develop nine berths, broken down as five berths for general commodities, three berths for steel, and one berth for lumber. It also planned to reclaim as much as 380,000 pyoung in hinterland. (1 pyoung is calculated as 3.3 square meters). However, according to the given plan, the priorities are first for a total of five berths including two berths for commodities and three berths for steel while 100,000 pyoung of hinterland will be reclaimed.

The Pusan New Port, as a container dedicated terminal, will have thirty berths, as confirmed earlier this year, with six berths in the northern container wharf by 2006, seven berths in the northern container terminal between 2006 and 2011, 12 berths in the southern container wharf and five berths in east Song-do.

If these mid- and long- term development projects are actualized, the stevedoring capacities at the Port of Pusan, currently 80,669,000 tons (container handling 5,330,000 TEU) per year, will increase to 117,802,000 tons (container handling 7,780,000 TEU) by 2006 and 185,175,000 tons (container handling 14,015,000 TEU) by 2011, alleviating chronic port congestion.