News
A total of 612,982 TEUs of containers were traded by ferry between South Korea and China in 2017, which just increased 2.4% from the previous year, as Beijing took retaliatory actions against Seoul, which had imported the Terminal High Attitude Area Defense (THAAD) system from the U.S., according to a report compiled by an association of ferry operators catering to the route between South Korea and China. The number of passengers travelling by ferry between the economies plunged a more notable 16.9% to 1,267,091.
Looking more closely at container movement by route, it was brisk on the Inchon-Weihai route, which went up 8.6% to 58,251 TEUs; on the Inchon-Qingdao route, up 5.4% to 51,513 TEUs; on the Inchon-Yentai route, up 4.1% to 32,299 TEUs and on the Inchon-Dalian route, up 7% to 14,678 TEUs. In contrast, containers plunged 16.9% to 38,663 TEUs between Inchon and Lianyungang, while container traffic was dull between Kunsan and Shidao as well, but decreased a much more milder 0.2% to 25,697 TEUs.
Between Pyeongtaek and Yentai, 41,072 TEUs were moved, up 13.2%; between Pyeongtaek and Weihai, 51,293 TEUs, up 22.1%; between Pyeongtaek and Rizhao, 50,777 TEUs, up 6% and between Inchon and Shidao, 52,191 TEUs, up 15.8%. Container movement was brisk between Inchon and Shanghai, the only route between South Korea and China to which containership operators cater, soaring 10.4% to 85,956 TEUs. In contrast, containers shrank on the Inchon-Dandong and Inchon-Tianjin routes, which went down 2.6% to 17,242 TEUs and down 4.3% to 29,064 TEUs, respectively.
