[170820.EN.SEA] Korean Shipping Begins to Recover From Five Years of Financial Crisis

 

KOREA's shipping industry has been slowly recovering from the fallout of an industry-wide crisis five years ago that led to the bankruptcy of a major shipper there, reports the Yonhap news agency.

South Korea's shipping industry was estimated to have reached US$31.2 billion in 2019, which grew from $24 billion in 2016 during the global crisis.

Still, the number falls short of the $32 billion from 2015, before the global crisis made its impact. South Korea is expected to reach $43 billion by 2025, which will break the industry out of the slump.

Meanwhile, the country's shipping capacity is expected to reach 1.2 million TEU by the year, which is double from 500,000 TEU in 2019.

The shipping industry has faced unprecedented difficulties since 2015 as a result of falling freight rates from the oversupply of ships and a slump in the global economy.

Hanjin Shipping went bankrupt in early 2017, which was a deadly blow to the domestic shipping industry since the company was once the world's seventh-largest shipper.

South Korea announced a five-year development plan in April 2018, which sets a goal of ordering 200 vessels through 2020. One hundred and sixty-four ships have been ordered as of July. The country has put $3.61 billion into helping local shippers from 2018 to 2019.

Source : HKSG / Photo : ShipSpotting.