The Terminals of the Port of Busan a Good Example of Co-operation

In the last week of May, the delegation of Estonian Logistics Cluster paid a visit to the Port of Busan in Korea, one of the five world's most important container ports, in order to learn from the experiences of the top performers in the field and to witness the success of parallel use of multiple operators.

According to Mr. Andres Valgerist, heading the cluster delegation, it is paramount to learn from the world’s best in order to maintain the edge over ever-growing competition.

„For instance, in the development plan of Muuga harbour as well as in Sillamäe’s one, the increase of container capacity is essential. Therefore, studying the container terminals of Busan can be considered a rare experience gaining opportunity for the Estonian port operators," Mr. Valgerist believed.

As maintained by Mr. Ho-Chul Park, the Marketing Director of the Port of Busan, the fact that at present time there are six separate container terminal operators providing services at the harbour has lowered the rates of port services remarkably over the years and helped the harbour to increase the competitiveness.

As indicated by Mr. Viktor Palmet, the Managing Director of the Estonian Ports Association, it was evident from the example of the Port of Busan how the use of several container cargo operators in the same port can be highly successful.

Separate container operators, working practically side by side, using collectively the resources of the harbour as a whole, yield maximum profit for the harbour under the normal competition terms and conditions,” Mr. Palmet explained.

During the meeting of Mr. Ain Kaljurand, the Chairman of the Management Board of the Port of Tallinn and Mr. Ki-Tae Roh, the President of the Port of Busan, held at the outstanding reception organised by the Port Authority of Busan, the parties pointed out various similarities and co-operation opportunities between the two ports.

“We were glad to introduce transit opportunities through Estonia for the Korean goods and at the same time the possibilities available at our harbours at one of the world’s most rapidly developing container port,” Mr. Kaljurand clarified.

As said by Mr. Jaanus Paas, the Chairman of the Management Board of EVR Cargo, the meeting at the Port of Busan is significantly encouraging already previously discussed development of rail container freight from Estonia to Moscow as well as to Central Asia.

The Port of Busan (also known as Pusan) is one of the five world’s largest container ports, amounting for about 80 per cent of all the container cargo transport of South-Korea.