Dubai Ports World set to manage new Busan port in South Korea

DUBAI — The President of the republic of Korea, Roh Moo-Hyun, yesterday officially opened the new state-of-the-art Busan Newport Co (PNC) terminal, marking the completion of the first phase of a development, which is expected to become one of the largest in the world in terms of capacity.

DP World will manage and operate the port for 50 years starting from the date of operation.

The port is located on the boundary of the west side of Busan city, eastern tip of Kyongsangnam-do, Korea. The new terminal 1.2 kilometers long, consisting of three berths of 350 meters each, is designed to cater to the new generation of mega-container vessels and is the first of three phases of the PNC development at a cost of $600 million.

The second phase will include a further three berths scheduled for completion by the end of 2007 at a cost of $500 million and the final three will begin operations in 2009 as part of third phase at a cost of $500 million.

The overall terminal has a conservative estimated handling capacity of 5.5 million TEU and will stretch 3.2 kilometers.

The facility is forecast to become the gateway hub of North East Asia because of its strategic location between Japan and North East China. The surrounding area has an extremely strong indigenous market and transportation infra-structure which makes the geographic position ideal for such a large container hub facility.

In addition, a total area of 4.08 million square meters has been designated as a free trade zone which will encompass international facilities for integrated logistics affiliated industries.

Rob Walker, executive vice-president, DP World and PNC, said: "We are exited about the quality services we are able to offer customers at Korea's new mega hub container terminal with sophisticated terminal equipment and software implemented on site. They are a direct result of the innovative approach taken by PNC partners in the development of the technological infrastructure."

Mohammed Sharaf, CEO, DP World said: "DP World's involvement in this project reflects our commitment to building long-term relationships with customers and with business partners, and our determination to invest in growth areas so that facilities and services are in place when our customers need them. Further, it underlines our ability to offer integrated terminal logistics services, enhancing the efficiency or our customers supply chain." The advanced container handling equipment at the facility includes nine ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and 28 cantilevers rail mounted gantry cranes (RMG).

The STS cranes will enable the terminal to handle the new, wider container vessels and the facility will host the largest cranes built to date with a rail gauge of 42.7 meters designated for nine traffic lanes.

The RMCGs constructed by Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company handle nine rows with a stacking height of six containers and a lifting capacity of 65LT. The semi-automated cranes are equipped with GPS and trailer positioning systems along with safety features for the protection of trucks.

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