[July 18, 2017, Incheon, Republic of Korea]

With the successful completion of the Incheon New Port Stage I-1 Container Terminal Construction Project, the new port stage I-1 is fully ready for its grand-opening.

On July 17th, the Incheon Port Authority (IPA, www.icpa.or.kr) announced that it obtained the Certificate of the Construction Completion from the Incheon Regional Office of Oceans and Fisheries on July 11th with two rail mounted quay cranes (RMQCs) installed in Hanjin Incheon Container Terminal (HJIT) for unloading at the 22nd row.

According to the IPA, the HJIT now has 7 RMQCs in total with that addition. The ground construction for the Incheon New Port Stage I-1 Container Terminal started in April 2009 and was completed in May 2014. Then, the Incheon New Port Stage I-1 Container Terminals ‘SNCT’ and ‘HJIT’ opened in June 2015 and March 2016 respectively (SNCT: 410m, HJIT: 420m). In the SNCT, an 800m-long container dock fully opened on April 1st. In contrast, the HJIT plans the grand opening of the stage II by November. As a result, the Incheon New Port Stage I-1 would become as magnificent as a 1.6km-long pier.

The IPA explained that with the grand opening of the HJIT in November, the Incheon New Port Stage I-1 Container Terminals would have the capacity of 2.1 million TEU (1.05 million TEU/terminal). In addition, large vessels would now be able to use the Port of Incheon, and the expansion of container sea routes is expected. Therefore, the Port of Incheon would see a significant increase in container volume.

Nam Bong-hyeon, President of the IPA, said, “With the introduction of the state-of-the-art equipment to the Incheon New Port, we anticipate an increase in competitiveness and productivity”. He added, “The Incheon New Port Stage I-1 Container Terminal Construction Project was successfully completed. We would like to keep making our best efforts for the grand opening in November as planned”.

* Pictures provided by: The IPA