Korean port embodies good port city relations

Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority (YGPA) has a series of outreach activities, including a Port-City dialogue programme, which brings together local authorities (city, province, relevant Ministries) with the port to agree on joint sustainability initiatives.

Community work

YGPA staff dedicate 22 hours annually each to community outreach activities including to the Ocean Natural purification volunteer service, senior lunch box delivery service and the house repair-volunteer service. Employees have dedicated a total of 3,000 hours so far.

Another example of the port authority’s community work is its Sunflower Garden Project. This project involved a re-structure of the port area to make better use of space to attract recreational activities and to support the local economy.

As part of this effort, YGPA planted sunflowers in a 53,000m2 area in the idle space of Gwangyang Distripark resulting in a 13.5% increase in tourists visiting the area.

Green kudos

The Port of Gwangyang is Korea’s number one port by import and export volume handling containers, petrochemicals and steel products, as well as general cargo.

With a waterfront area of 111.4km2 and a total of 103 berths, it is capable of handling 60,000 vessels per year, from container ships and oil tankers through to LNG carriers.

Helped by way of the Korea Free Economic Zone (FEZ), it is forecast to handle upwards of 3.3m teu by 2025.

YGPA’s community outreach work has been nominated for a 2020 World Ports Sustainability Award.

The winners will be presented with their awards at the World Ports Sustainability Awards Gala dinner on 18 March at the IAPH 2020 World Ports Conference.