Foreign shippers won’t get contracts for strategic materials
Foreign shipping companies may face more difficulties in doing business here following the government’s plan to give special treatment to financially troubled Korean shippers.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Thursday it will offer more opportunities for Korean companies to ship strategic materials such as crude oil, coal, natural gas and iron ore.
The ministry will also seek to have massive strategic materials’ owners renew their contracts with Korean companies, while ending their deals with foreign firms.
The measure is a part of the government’s five-year plan to reorganize the nation’s shipping industry, which has suffered from decreasing sales after Hanjin Shipping’s bank- ruptcy.
According to the oceans ministry, the government will boost cooperation with owners of freight, so they choose Korean shippers for transportation of their goods.
“Korea had a regulation barring foreign companies from shipping strategic materials, but the previous administration eliminated the legislation in regulatory reform,” Oceans Minister Kim Young-choon said.
“Many developed countries still prohibit foreign companies from shipping important resources.”
He cited the division of the two Koreas as another reason the measure is necessary.