S. Korea aims to nearly double marine shipping sales by 2030

South Korea is targetting 70 trillion won in sales by 2030, marking a 75 percent increase from 40 trillion won estimated for this year, said the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The country's goal is to dominate 50 percent of the global maritime autonomous vessel market by 2030 by hastening the adoption of smart maritime logistics systems.

The country is sparing no efforts in helping local shippers overcoming the heightened competition amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the ocean ministry added.

South Korea is also bolstering its marine shipping capacity to help it reach 1.5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) by 2030, almost doubling the 2020 estimate of 780,000 TEUs.

The ministry unveiled the plan during a launching ceremony in Busan for South Korea's No. 1 shipper HMM Co.'s new 16,000-TEU class container ship Hanul.

The event was attended by President Moon Jae-in, who vowed to lead South Korea in becoming the global maritime shipping industry leader.

Moon also vowed to help the maritime shipping industry create opportunities for growth by accelerating transitions to eco-friendly vessels and ports, enlargements of container vessels, and digitalization of the industry.

The ocean ministry noted that the government's five-year revitalization plan unveiled in 2018 resulted in South Korea's shipping industry posting a solid recovery.

South Korea would raise to $3 billion to help local shippers increase the size of their fleets as they are expected to face more competition overseas amid the COVID-19 pandemic.