Incheon Port enhances its Shandong connections with a new twice-weekly service, projected to add 120,000 TEUs of cargo annually.
Incheon Port strengthens its Shandong network with a direct twice-weekly service expected to generate 120,000 TEUs of new cargo each year.
Incheon Port handles about 2.2 million TEUs of container cargo with China and has added a new direct link to that network. On November 11, the Incheon Port Authority (IPA) announced that a new regular container shipping route connecting Incheon Port and Rizhao Port in China's Shandong Province had completed its inaugural voyage.
The new service, named the RIX (Rizhao Incheon Express), connects Rizhao Port directly with the Sun Kwang Newport Container Terminal (SNCT) at Incheon New Port. Shandong Marine Shipping Co. (SMC) plans to deploy one 1,000 TEU-class container vessel on the route, with sailings twice a week. One TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent unit, equals one standard 20-foot container.
Rizhao Port ranks as China's sixth-largest port, with cargo throughput of 580 million tons last year. The port serves a region with developed steel, petrochemical, and paper industries, which produce steady, high-volume cargo flows across the Yellow Sea.
The RIX route gives freight forwarders a direct option between southern Shandong Province and the Seoul capital area. The IPA expects the service to reduce logistics costs between the two regions and to generate 120,000 TEUs of new cargo volume annually. A twice-weekly schedule gives forwarders and their clients a regular sailing pattern for planning bookings, inventory, and delivery commitments. For shippers and importers sourcing steel, petrochemical, or paper products from southern Shandong, the direct service offers a cost-effective routing alternative for these supply chains.
The RIX service builds on an established network. Incheon Port already operates container routes to major Shandong ports, including Qingdao, Weihai, Yantai, and Shidao. Container cargo volume between Incheon Port and Shandong ports is approximately 780,000 TEUs, representing 35 percent of Incheon's total China cargo volume of 2.2 million TEUs.
Rizhao joins this group as a new port of call. The addition gives logistics providers more flexibility when building tailored service packages for clients across diverse industries in the Korea–China trade.
"With the addition of the new Rizhao route, it will greatly help increase cargo volume," an IPA official said, adding, "We will strive to attract cargo for the new route and improve services."
