​Korea's first fully automated dock opens! HMM capacity will increase significantly
 Apr 15, 2024|View:53

The seventh container terminal in the new port of Busan, South Korea, was officially launched recently, with President Yoon Suk-yeol of the Republic of Korea attending the opening ceremony.


It is understood that the 7th terminal of Busan New Port is the first fully automated terminal in South Korea. The terminal, namely Busan New Port West Container Terminal Phase 2-5. has 3 50.000-ton container terminal berths, a shoreline length of 1.050 meters, a maximum water depth of -20 meters, a total area of 840.000 square meters, and a designed handling capacity of 1.95 million TEUs.


Busan Port is a hub port in Northeast Asia with cutting-edge logistics facilities. In 2023. the container throughput of Busan Port was 22.75 million TEU, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.07 percent, ranking 7th in the world.


South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said the government will provide 5.5 trillion won (about 29.5 billion yuan) of green ship financing for shipping companies to revitalize port shipping projects and build Busan port into a world-class smart port.

According to Lloyd's List, the plan centers on South Korean liner Hanshin Shipping (HMM), which plans to double its container fleet capacity over the next six years to 2 million TEUs by 2030.


Hanshin Shipping (HMM), formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine, is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. HMM started with three tankers in 1976. and has developed a strong fleet including containers, LNG, tankers and bulk carriers. HMM has branches and agents all over the world, with a network reaching 110 countries and regions around the world, and has grown into a world-class integrated maritime logistics company.


According to the latest data of Alphaliner, HMM ranks 8th in the global top 100 liner companies in terms of capacity. It operates 73 ships, including 39 self-owned ships and 34 leased ships, with a total shipping space of 802.000 TEU. In addition, HMM holds 24 new ship building orders totaling 239.000 TEU.