On the afternoon of the 22nd at Busan New Port's Pier 7. Heavy trucks loaded with containers were neatly lined up. After finishing a reverse park, the driver got out, operated a blue machine installed outside, then climbed back into the driver's seat. Moments later, a yard crane (ARMGC) approached the vehicle and, like a claw machine, lifted the container and moved it inside the pier.
Containers transferred this way are handed off to automated guided vehicles (AGVs). AGVs transport the containers to the ship-to-shore container crane (STS) on the sea side. This crane is designed with different heights for the upper and lower sections to perform two tasks simultaneously. The upper section loads containers onto the ship, while the lower section unloads them.
There are no people in this process. From the moment the truck driver who brought the container finishes parking, the entire process from handling to transfer to loading proceeds unmanned. There are no workers inside the pier.
Crane speeds, which used to vary by operator, have also been standardized, boosting logistics efficiency by up to 30%. Yun Sang-geon, Dongwon Global Terminal Busan (DGT) CEO, looking over the pier from the eighth-floor office terrace, said, "Since we introduced automation, not only me but our employees rarely have any reason to go in there."
◇ Korea's first fully automated Busan Port
This is the country's first fully automated port, opened in 2024. Through a digital, terminal operating system (TOS), the entire process from container handling to transfer to loading is processed unmanned. Each piece of equipment exchanges data in real time over 5th generation (5G) communications. It is a structure that can provide steady, stable logistics service around the clock.
The automated port is expected to further raise the competitiveness of Busan Port, the world's No. 2 transshipment port. As of 2024, Busan Port's transshipment throughput is 13,497,000 TEUs (1 TEU is one 20-foot container). It accounts for 97.2% of the national total of 13,900,000 TEUs.
According to U.K.-based maritime market research firm Drewry and others, Busan Port's transshipment volume is the second largest after Singapore's 37,012,000 TEUs.
Kim Ho-seok, Busan Port Authority (BPA) Director General, said, "Busan Port is the last port where cargo bound from Asia to the Americas can call, like the last rest area on a highway," adding, "Along with this geopolitical advantage, 'on-time performance' is Busan Port's strength."
◇ Fewer fatalities too... expanding to 219 unmanned units
Automation has also greatly reduced the risk of safety accidents. In the past, yard tractors carrying containers back and forth between cranes frequently struck workers. Speeding and drowsy driving were the main causes. There were also accidents where workers were crushed by containers weighing tens of tons (t).
Park Jeong-jae, DGT chief administrative officer (CAO), said, "What matters is that we now have a system that can prevent safety accidents through automation," adding, "The past two years were for stabilizing the system, and starting this year, work efficiency will improve in earnest."
DGT plans to expand the fully automated port to a total area of 1.4 million square meters (about 427,000 pyeong) by next year. That's equivalent to 196 soccer fields. On top of the current 840,000-square-meter wharf, 46,000 square meters will be added in the second half of this year, and another 520,000 square meters by the second half of next year. The plan is to become the nation's largest fully automated port, equipped with a total of 219 unmanned units.