A claim has been raised that support befitting public transit is needed to ensure the sustainability of coastal vessels, an essential public transportation link between the mainland and islands. Although they are included as public transit under the Public Transportation Act alongside buses, the subsidies differ by nearly 45 times. Used by 12.6 million people a year, coastal vessels are suffering a "triple whammy" of aging fleets, operating losses, and crew supply problems.
The Korea Shipping Association held the "Future development strategy policy forum for Korea's coastal shipping" at 10 a.m. on the 25th at the National Assembly Members' Office Building.
The forum was co-hosted by Rep. Yun Jun-byeong of the Democratic Party of Korea and Rep. Cho Seung-hwan of the People Power Party, and organized by the Korea Shipping Association.
The forum focused on three key tasks to establish a sustainable industrial base for coastal shipping: ▲ financing support to smoothly replace aging coastal vessels ▲ making coastal passenger ships part of public transit ▲ stabilizing crew supply and improving treatment.
After the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, the government significantly strengthened support for coastal vessel modernization. The government provides funds and interest subsidies (loan interest support) to allow aging coastal vessels to be newly built or replaced. Thanks in part to this, an average of 18.4 ships were built annually through 2020. However, starting in 2021, rising construction prices due to labor and material costs and a shortage of shipyards intersected, reducing the number to 10.2 ships.
Meanwhile, coastal vessels continue to age. Depending on their role, coastal vessels consist of passenger ships and cargo ships. Among them, passenger ships are retired after 25 to 30 years. The current average age of coastal passenger ships is 12.3 years. Cargo ships are not subject to a separate regulatory retirement age. However, in the case of tankers, refiners and petrochemical companies effectively impose a market retirement age by prohibiting berthing by ships older than 30 years.
Ko Byeong-uk, a research fellow at the Shipping and Logistics and Maritime Policy Research Office of the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI), proposed a "K-coastal shipping joint ownership" model to support replacement demand for coastal vessels. Under the model, the shipping association, the Korea Ocean Business Corporation (KOBC), and shipping companies would jointly own vessels and bear the construction expense, then lend the vessels to shipping companies and receive charter hire. Ko said, "It is expected to improve risk management by vessel type and timing, diversify investors, and cultivate strong shipping companies."
There was also criticism that coastal passenger ships are not receiving substantive support as public transit. With the passage of the amended Public Transportation Act in 2020, coastal passenger ships were legally included as public transit along with road and rail transport.
However, as of 2022, while subsidies for semi-public city bus systems in the six major metropolitan cities totaled 1.8932 trillion won, total fare support for passenger ships amounted to only 42.1 billion won. Kim Un-su, a senior research fellow in the Transportation and Logistics Research Department at the Incheon Institute, said, "Coastal passenger transport is the only means of connecting the mainland and islands and is a very important means for island marine tourism and economic activity," adding, "The long-distance cap within the scope of national support should also be lowered to the level of city and metropolitan buses."
There were also views that the shortage and aging of seafarers and treatment issues must be resolved.
Kim Young-mo, head of the Seafarers Relations Research Institute, said, "While the number of domestic seafarers has continued to decline for 10 years, the share aged 60 or older reached 60% in the same period," adding, "The total number of licensed officers is 428 fewer than the legally required 6,438." Even when a shipping company seeks to grant paid leave, securing replacement crew is difficult. As a solution, a joint reserve crew system is being discussed. This is a system in which multiple shipping companies jointly employ and operate reserve personnel.