A scene of handling containers at Incheon Port, Incheon, which set a record for handling over 1 

million containers during the first quarter at the harbor. Incheon Port. 

(right)  President Kim Choon-sun of Incheon Port Authority(IPA)also won the Class A recognition in the evaluation 

of the government-invested firms and CEOs by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance in 2012. (Photos: IPA)

Incheon Port’s handling of containers shipped overseas during the first half this year totaled over 1 million TEU for the first time in the port’s history, an encouraging sign that the number might reach over 2 million TEU for the second year in a row this year, the Incheon Port Authority (IPA) said recently.

IPA said the number of containers that went through the port would break the 2 million TEU level for the second year this year rewriting the port’s century-plus history, since the number of containers shipped out of the port was usually highest in the fourth quarter almost every year. The first time the number of containers handled exceeded over 1 million TEU at Incheon Port was in 2005, the initial year the IPA was established.

The 1 millionth container that was shipped out of the port was bound for Vietnam on the Triumph cargo vessel belonging to Hyundai Merchant Marine, officials of the IPA said, adding that the record is the result of the hard work of everyone at both the shipping companies and at Incheon Port's terminal operators.

Early in the year, President Kim Choon-sun of the IPA stressed that the number of containers shipped from in-and-outside of Incheon Port should go over 2 million TEU this year, placing his job on the line. The IPA held a workshop in February and worked hard to get container shipping firms to ship more number of their containers through Incheon, especially firms based in Southeast Asia, introduced the forwarding exclusive marking system, encouraged higher shipment of auto parts through Incheon, and promoted other marketing offensives to increase the number of containers shipped out of Incheon.

Incheon Port has yet to repeat the feat of shipping more than 2 million containers for two consecutive years, but the container numbers increase every year.

The IPA feels certain that the port’s handling of 2 million containers for the year would come soon. Kim said he would thank the shipping firms, pier operators and employees of IPA for their hard work to put Incheon Port where it is now, a very busy port providing good services in Northeast Asia, adding that they should work harder to secure containers for the port as the global economy shows few signs of recovery and they continue to face uncertainties in operations.

In the meantime, the IPA won an A-class classification in the 2012 government-owned company evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the ministry said on June 18.

The IPA received a C in 2010 and a B in 2011 in the annual evaluation. IPA President Kim received an A in the 2012 evaluation. Among the five government-run organizations that received an A were Incheon Airport Authority and Korea East-South Power Co., the ministry said.

The ministry evaluated 111 government-owned and partially-owned companies, including 28 wholly government-owned, along with 96 CEOs who head them. Among the CEOs, 15 received As, 33 got Bs, 30 were scored as Cs, and two got Es.

The IPA was the first port authority to clinch an A in the evaluation among the major ports in Korea. The Korea Airport Authority, which received the top ranking of S last year, could only manage to get an A this year, in fact no firm scored an S this year. The firms which got E ratings increased, showing the deterioration in the business management environment in Korea, the ministry said.

Since the start of the third management team in 2011 for the IPA, the company has focused on improving in-house communications among executives and staff, which helped to combat any tough problems and created a professional corporate culture, the essence of how to receive an A evaluation.