Due to the challenges posed by the change in alliance routings, Busan Port saw declines in both container and overall tonnage in April, 2016, according to JOC.com.
Woo Ye Jong, CEO of the Busan Port Authority, said: “we seek to hedge against the downturn in container throughput of Busan Port, which is driven by import and export between Korea and China by attracting more transhipment containers, and so offset the predicted decrease in trade cargo with China.”
Technical Paper: Busan New Container Terminal: Growing Smartly for a Big Future
Despite the challenges inherent at Busan, PTI previously reported that its Busan New Container Terminal (BNCT) had broken the five million TEU mark, five years after its first vessel call.
BNCT also recently completed phase two of its expansion in 2015, adding 700,000 TEU of capacity.
The terminal is the only one able to add new capacity in new port until 2020.
The change in alliance structures, with the most recent being THE Alliance, consisting of Hapag-Lloyd and four other Asian carriers, are anticipated to affect operations at a number of ports and terminals globally.
Technical Paper: Unprecedented Challenges: Tackling the Biggest Alliances
The effects of bigger alliances pour over onto terminal operations since the size of customers and complexity increases, with shake ups and customer shuffles occurring in each port.
The most recent hinting of a new alliance pair-up was with Hyundai Merchant Marine, who could be in line to join THE Alliance if it can acquire mega-ships.
