Docking of a large container ship marks new dawn
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The 13,500-TEU Umm Salal docks at Shinsundae wharf
At Busan North Port, large container ships over 10,000 TEU (which can carry 10,000 six-meter containers) are continuously docking. Busan Port is spreading its wings to rise up as a mega hub port in Northeast Asia.
The Busan Port Authority announced that the 13,500-TEU Umm Salal, a large container ship operated by the United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), docked at North Port Shinsundae wharf on Feb. 20. It has a gross tonnage of 141,077.
The large container ship is the size of three soccer fields, measuring 351 meters long, 48.2 meters wide and 22.9 meters high. It is also scheduled to dock at PNC wharf.
This is the first time that a massive ship over 10,000 TEU has docked at Busan North Port since the 10,070 TEU ZIM did so in February last year.
The reason why vessels of this size were able to ente r the port is because the Busan Port Authority has raised the depth of water in the dock to 16 meters to facilitate ease of access.
The number of massive container ships (over 100,000 tons) docking at Busan Port stood at four in 2008, 15 in 2009, 40 in 2010 and 127 last year.
However, the majority of these ships docked at Busan New Port. Busan North Port recorded only four such vessels in 2008, 15 in 2009 and eight in 2010. In 2011, only one ship over 100,000 tons docked at North Port.
To attract larger container ships to the port, Busan Port Authority has been waiving charges such as entrance and departure fees, pier fees and docking fees since 2010.
Under the new regulation, container ships will only pay these fees for the first 100,000 tons of their weight. Any surplus will not be charged.
The source of news: Dynamic Busan
