Port Of Incheon News

American Roll-On Roll-Off Carrier Group Inc. (ARC) added ARC Honor as the ninth American flag roll-on roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel to its fleet.“This tremendously capable and flexible U.S.-flag ship is crewed by American merchant mariners and now operates in ARC’s global network supporting America’s national defense and economic security through trade,” said Eric Ebeling, ARC President & CEO. The vessel is ARC’s fourth large car/truck carrier (LCTC) vessel.The former Tulane was re-flagged to American registry and re-named the ARC Honor on February 2, 2024.

ABB will install Port of Incheon’s first shore-to-ship power solution, enabling passenger vessels to cut emissions, noise and vibrations at berthABB has secured the contract covering South Korea’s commitment to sustainable shore-to-ship power, after a pilot scheme for passenger ships to plug into the local grid received the go ahead from Incheon Port Authority (IPA).In addition to a new $160 million ferry terminal opened in April 2019, Port of Incheon inaugurated South Korea’s largest cruise terminal in June this year.

Pirates attacked a South Korean-flagged cargo ship in the South China Sea early on Monday, stealing thousands of dollars in cash and even the sailors' shoes, South Korean authorities said.Two people sustained minor injuries when seven pirates boarded the CK Bluebell and made off with $13,000 and belongings including mobile phones, clothes and shoes from the 22-strong crew, officials from the oceans and fisheries ministry said.Tougher policing has made piracy less frequent on the strategic shipping route in recent years.The dry bulk vessel CK Bluebell had set sail from its anchorage off Singapore on Saturday afternoon, heading northeast for South Korea's port of Incheon, Refinitiv Eikon ship tracking data showed.Korean officials said the ship was sailing normally after the robbery.The incid

The Container Handing Volume by the Republic of Korea's  Port of Incheon surpassed 3 million TEU that it has processed over 1 year. Incheon Port’s 3 million TEU is a record achieved in 12 years after achieving 1 million TEU (2005) and in 4 years after achieving 2 million TEU (2013) and based on the 2016 performance, it is the best performance and accomplishment in history, putting it in 47th place out of the global container ports. Such container volume was handled with 49 sea routes. 49 sea routes is almost two folds from 2005 when Incheon Port Authority (IPA) was established with 26 sea routes, signifying that the services provided by Incheon Port has become diversified and the network has expanded, ultimately leading to the increase in the container volume.

The Container Handing Volume by the Republic of Korea's  Port of Incheon is expected to reach 3.08 million TEU in 2017, said a company release. On August 3, the Incheon Port Authority (IPA) announced that its container handling volume for the second half of the year would be 1.61 million TEU, totaling 3.08 million TEU for 2017. According to the ‘Analysis of 2017 Container Volume for the First Half and Estimation for the Second Half’ performed by the IPA based on the performances during the first half and current trends, it is expected to reach up to 3.08 million TEU, 14.9% increase from the prior year. Recently, the Port of Incheon has revealed continued increase in trading volume.

Incheon Port Authority (IPA) announced that a regular container route ‘Thailand-Vietnam Services (TVX)’ launched by five shipping companies – Namsung Shipping, Dongjin Shipping, Pan Continental Shipping, Pan Ocean and CK Line – was newly opened. Starship Pegasus (1,800 TEU) provided for the TVX entered the Incheon New Port SNCT early in the morning on August 16 for the first time. Starship Pegasus is one of the three ships operated for the TVX. The three ships (1,800 TEU) will be operated by Namsung Shipping, Dongjin Shipping and Pan Continental Shipping for 9 months. After that, they would be operated by Pan Ocean and CK Line for another 9 months. The TVX route is Incheon-Gwangyang-Busan-Ho Chi Minh-Laem Chabang-Bangkok-Laem Chabang-Ho Chi Minh-Incheon. It will be operated weekly.

China said on Wednesday South Korea's coast guard should not have been operating in part of the sea where one of Seoul's patrol boats sank last week during an operation to crack down on a group of Chinese fishing boats. South Korean coast guard vessels regularly chase Chinese boats for fishing illegally off its coast, at times resulting in violent confrontations. The disputes are an irritant in relations between China and U.S. ally South Korea, even as their economic relations grow close and they share concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programmes. South Korea's Ministry of Public Safety and Security, which oversees the coast guard, said one of its patrol boats sank last week during an anti-illegal fishing operation off the Korean peninsula's west coast.

Students testify no help came from crew; Coastguard rescuers were passive, only pulling passengers out. Crew in a state of panic, witness says. Six teenagers who survived South Korea's worst maritime disaster in 44 years told on Monday how classmates helped them float free as water flooded their cabins despite crew instructions to stay put even as their ferry sank, killing more than 300 people. The teenagers, whose names were withheld to protect their privacy, were giving testimony at the trial of 15 crew members, who face charges ranging from homicide to negligence for abandoning the sinking ship. "We were waiting and, when the water started coming in, the class rep told everyone to put on the life vests ...

The major shareholder of the South Korean operator of the ferry on which hundreds of high school students drowned in April has applied for receivership, a court said on Monday. Chonhaiji Co Ltd, a ship block maker and the major shareholder of ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine Company, lodged its application at the Changwon District Court last week, a court official said. Chonghaejin Marine owned the Sewol, which sank on April 16 on a routine journey between the mainland port of Incheon and the holiday island of Jeju. Of 476 passengers and crew on board, including 339 students and teachers from the same school, 172 were rescued with the remainder presumed drowned.

South Korean president apologizes, vows tough punishment. South Korean President Park Geun-hye, tears rolling down her cheeks, formally apologized on Monday for a ferry disaster that killed about 300 people, mostly school children, and said she would dismantle the coast guard for failing in its duties. Park has been hit hard by an angry nationwide outcry over the government's response to South Korea's worst civilian maritime disaster in 20 years and the seemingly slow and ineffective rescue operation. Polls show support for Park has dropped by more than 20 points since the April 16 disaster. "I apologize to the nation for the pain and suffering that everyone felt…

While the investigation is still fresh regarding the sinking and the tragic loss of life of the South Korean ferry Sewol, early reports point to a multitude of potential problems, including a critical breakdown among the crew. As work continues to secure the ship and recover the remaining dead onboard, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News reached out to maritime training and education experts for insights on that sector’s role in helping to reduce the risk of disaster at sea.

The operator of the South Korean ferry that capsized and sank this month with the loss of about 300 lives was apparently being squeezed by competition from budget airlines and had to increasingly rely on its cargo business. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine voyage south from the port of Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju on April 16. Investigators have not determined the cause of the accident but media has reported that the ship was overloaded with cargo and it may have been poorly stowed. The ship was carrying 476 passengers and crew and had a capacity for 956. The Korean Register of Shipping, which tested and certified the Sewol, stipulated that it should be loaded with no more than 1,070 tonnes of cargo and passengers combined. It is not clear how much cargo it was carrying.

South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won resigned on Sunday over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju. "Keeping my post too great a burden on the administration," a sombre Chung said in a brief announcement. Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents the day after the disaster. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead. The children were told to stay put in their cabins, where they waited for further orders. The confirmed death toll on Sunday was 187.

The frightened boy who first raised the alarm that a South Korean ferry with hundreds on board was sinking did not have time to call his parents, his father said, and was found dead not wearing a life jacket. Choi called the emergency 119 number which put him through to the fire service, which in turn forwarded him to the coastguard two minutes later. That was followed by about 20 other calls from children to the emergency number, a fire service officer told Reuters. The Sewol ferry sank on April 16 on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed dead.

South Korean investigators said on Friday that life rafts and escape chutes on a sister ship to a sunken ferry were not working properly. The Sewol ferry, weighing almost 7,000 tons, sank on a routine trip from the port of Incheon, near Seoul, to the southern holiday island of Jeju. Investigations are focused on human error and mechanical failure. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from the Danwon High School near Seoul, are dead or missing presumed dead after the April 16 disaster. The confirmed death toll on Friday was 181. Investigators seized a second ferry for checks belonging to the Chonghaejin Marine Co. (Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Nick Macfie and David Chance)

A boy and girl trapped in a sinking South Korean ferry with hundreds of other high school students tied their life jacket cords together, a diver who recovered their bodies said, presumably so they wouldn't float apart. The diver had to separate the two because he could not carry two corpses up to the surface at the same time. "I started to cry thinking that they didn't want to leave each other," he told the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper on the island of Jindo on Thursday, near where the overloaded ferry went down last week. The parents of the boy whose shaking voice first raised the alarm that an overloaded ferry was sinking believe his body has also been found, the coastguard said.

The body of a South Korean boy whose shaking voice first raised the alarm that a passenger ferry with hundreds on board was in trouble has been found, his parents believe, but a DNA test has yet to confirm the find, media said on Thursday. His parents had checked his body and clothes and concluded he was their son, the Yonhap news agency said. The crew had told the children to stay put as the ferry sank. The Sewol sank on April 16 on a routine trip from the port of Incheon, near Seoul, to the southern holiday island of Jeju. Investigations are focused on human error or a mechanical fault, with media saying the ship was three times overloaded, with cargo poorly stowed and inadequate ballast water.

The first distress call from a sinking South Korean ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice, three minutes after the vessel made its fateful last turn. He called the emergency 119 number which put him through to the fire service, which in turn forwarded him to the coastguard two minutes later. That was followed by about 20 other calls from children on board the ship to the emergency number, a fire service officer told Reuters. The Sewol ferry sank last Wednesday on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional honeymoon island of Jeju. Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers on a high school outing. Only 174 people have been rescued and the remainder are all presumed to have drowned.

It should have been plain sailing for a South Korean ferry carrying hundreds of children and their teachers on an outing to the sub-tropical island of Jeju, an annual trip for Danwon High School. The Sewol had 476 passengers and crew on board, including 339 children and teachers. It had an experienced captain, was navigating well-known waters and had passed its annual inspections since it was bought second hand in 2012 by Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd. But prosecutors believe the vessel capsized after turning at too high a speed. Sixty-four people are known to have died and 238 are missing, presumed dead, mostly children. In an arrest document…

South Korean divers retrieved three bodies from inside a sunken ferry overnight, officials said on Sunday, the first time they have been able to gain entry to the passenger section of the ship. What was a search-and-rescue mission has now turned into an attempt to retrieve more than 200 bodies - many of them children - from the wreck of the ferry that capsized on Wednesday on a routine trip in calm waters. "At 11:48 p.m. (1448 GMT) the joint rescue team broke a glass window and succeeded in getting inside the vessel," the South Korean government said in a statement. The discovery of the bodies brought to 36 the official death toll from what looks to beSouth Korea's deadliest maritime accident in 21 years.

Some relatives of the more than 200 children missing in a sunken South Korean ferry offered DNA swabs on Saturday to help identify the dead as the rescue turned into a mission to recover the vessel and the bodies of those on board. The Sewol, carrying 476 passengers and crew, capsized on Wednesday on a journey from the port of Incheon to the southern holiday island of Jeju. Thirty-two people are known to have died. The 69-year-old captain, Lee Joon-seok, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday on charges of negligence along with two other crew members, including the third mate who was steering at the time of the capsize. Prosecutors later said the mate was steering the Sewol through the waters where it listed and capsized - for the first time in her career.

Divers searching for survivors of a capsized South Korean ferry saw three bodies floating through a window of a passenger cabin on Saturday but were unable to retrieve them, the coastguard said, hours after the ship's captain was arrested. The ferry, carrying 476 passengers, many of them schoolchildren, and crew, capsized on Wednesday on a journey from the port of Incheon to the southern holiday island of Jeju. Some 174 people have been rescued and hopes were fading for those still missing. The divers saw the bodies in a submerged cabin where many of the children were believed to be trapped, but were unable to break the glass to retrieve them. No sounds have been detected from within the capsized hull, the coastguard told reporters.

The captain of a South Korean ferry that capsized, leaving 29 people dead and 274 others missing, was arrested on Saturday, the country's Yonhap news agency said. Yonhap said Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, faced five charges including negligence of duty and violation of maritime law. Investigators had said earlier that Lee was not on the bridge at the time the Sewol ferry started to list sharply on Wednesday, with a junior officer at the wheel. Arrest warrants were issued on Friday for Lee, the officer at the wheel and one other crew member for failing in their duty to aid passengers. The vice-principal of a South Korean high school who accompanied hundreds of pupils on the ferry has committed suicide, police said on Friday, as hopes faded of finding any of the 274 missing alive.