Inchon seems to have container vessel 2003

MOMAF is set to allow container vessels in car-ferry trades between Inchon and China from 2003 and to announce its decision at the Korea/China Maritime Council next year.

Before this announcement, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries convened a meeting for container shipping lines and car-ferry lines in the trade on October 30 to give them advance notice.

The Maritime Logistics Division at MOMAF explained that as container vessels have been prohibited in Inchon, some cargoes from Metropolitan Seoul and the surrounding areas have been exported through Pusan and Kwangyang, not Inchon. To solve the problem, MOMAF opened container trades in Pyoungtaek bound for destinations in China such as Qingdao, Tianjin and Dalian, said the division.

MOMAF gave advance notice to car ferry liners to allow them to prepare.

An official at MOMAF revealed that if some trades where car ferry lines are not involved have demands for container vessels and the Chinese government allows it, MOMAF will let container vessels operate in the trade immediately.

In spite of the announcement from MOMAF, the date, January 2003, is not confirmed because the container vessel deployment has to be agreed on by the Korea/China Maritime Council.

Korea and China failed to reach an agreement to deploy container vessels in Inchon and Chinese trades in the Korea China Maritime Council held on September 19, 2001.