South Korean government to facilitate shipping line acquisitions of port assets 

Container News reports that on 12 December, lawmaker Ahn Byung-gil introduced a bill to amend the Korea Ocean Business Corporation Act so that the finance institution can add port development and port hinterland development projects to its portfolio.

Ahn, member of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, said that the amendment enables KOBC to participate as a financial investor in domestic and overseas port and logistics park development projects. Local industry observers have suggested that South Korean shipping lines should strive to acquire ports and terminals and logistics facilities worldwide, in response to their European and Chinese counterparts that are already actively investing in such infrastructure to secure new growth engines.

The amendment also provides grounds for KOBC to support ports and transportation-related businesses, including physical bunker supply operations, reflecting the situation in which it has been pointed out that the size of the domestic marine fuel market needs to be expanded and improved.