The Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) has suspended its KAMC service, which connected Incheon with Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, citing falling cargo volumes because of the Russo-Ukrainian war, reports London’s Loadstar.
This has dealt another blow to Incheon port after Pacific International Lines pulled its SWS service, which linked Incheon to West Africa, at the end of June. This was attributed to a decline in shipments of used cars from South Korea.
In the first four months of the year, Incheon, South Korea’s third-busiest container port after Busan and Gwangyang, saw volumes decline by 3.5 per cent to 18.7 per cent year on year, as the Shanghai lockdown took its toll.
In May, the year-on-year decline slowed to 1.2 per cent, to 292,969 TEU as containerised trade with China increased by 2.8 per cent year on year, to 182,761 TEU.
Incheon Port Authority (ICPA) said it tried to make up for the loss of Chinese cargo by working with liner operators to start services to Vietnam and Thailand, which are growing as manufacturing centres.
In June, K-Alliance, comprising HMM, SM Line and Pan Ocean, started its first joint service, the CVT, calling at Incheon, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Laem Chabang, Chiwan and Incheon.
Launched at the government’s suggestion in 2020, K-Alliance aims to reduce excess competition among South Korean feeder operators in South Korea-South-east Asia routes.
