- In preparation against a prolonged strike by the truckers union... expected to ease congestion of export and import containers -

 The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (Minister: CHO Seung-Hwan) announced that it will fully allow foreign ships to engage in domestic coastal transportation from December 1st to ensure seamless logistical operation of containers for exports and imports as the collective action involving refusal to transport by the truckers union continues.

 Following the land cargo transport sector crisis alert being raised to ‘serious’ on November 28th and the breakdown of negotiations between the government and the union, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries has implemented a pre-emptive measure based on concern over a prolonged strike action involving refusal to transport.

 Following the announcement, foreign vessels are temporarily permitted to transport container cargo for the 14 nationally managed trade ports nationwide until the termination of the collective action by the truckers union. The permit applies to all cargo types, whether they belong to the shipping company or a third party, or whether they are for export and import, trans-shipments, or empty containers.

 Any shipping company wishing to use foreign vessels for coastal transportation of containers may do so without any additional approval process, other than to report the transportation to the Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries of the relevant port jurisdiction by the date following the departure of the vessel after loading the containers.

 Minister Cho Seung-Hwan of Oceans and Fisheries shared his expectations that “this measure would alleviate a lot of the burden on the land transport of container cargo and the operations of port container yards.” He added, “the Ministry will continue to closely monitor the current situation, prepare for additional measures as part of the crisis response manual, and frequently inspect the seamless operations of emergency transportation measures that are currently in effect.”

 It should be noted that most countries prohibit foreign vessels from engaging in cargo transportation between the ports of a nation (known as cabotage) to protect their coastal transportation sector. Korea is no exception to this practice and prohibits coastal transport by foreign vessels in line with the Shipping Act, other than for the Busan Port - Gwangyang Port and Incheon Port - Gwangyang Port routes.