Incheon~Qinhuangdao car-ferry service opens

The Incheon~Qinhuangdao car-ferry service opened at the Incheon first international passengers' terminal April 16.
According to the Incheon Regional Maritime Affaires & Fisheries Office, this car-ferry service it was expected to open on April 9 originally but was delayed to April 16 because the Yu Jin Xiang was substituted for the Da-In vessel operating in Incheon~Dalian because was experiencing engine trouble.
The Yu Jin Xiang is a middle-sized car-ferry of 12,304 gross tons, loading 228 TEU and 348 passengers. The vessel operated in the Gunsan~Qindao service last year. It will operate twice weekly on Monday and Friday.
The joint-venture company Qin-In Shipping Co., Ltd. is operating this service. Heung-A Shipping in Korea, the Qinhuangdao port affairs office and another Chinese company invested to form Qin-In Shipping with 3 million dollars of paid in capital.
The opening ceremony will be held at Qinhuangdao in June after the Qinhuangdao passenger terminal opens.
Cargoes for Beijing will be transported quicker, and passenger traffic and cargoes between Korea and China are expected to increase through this service.
Meanwhile, Korean-Chinese car-ferry services transported 526,645 passengers and 226,828 TEU cargoes last year, representing a 12.2% and 17.1% respective increase over the previous year.