Russia’s FESCO Adds Vladivostok Shipping Capacity To South Korea’s Gwangyang Port

Russia’s FESCO Transport has begun regular ship calls from Vladivostok to South Korea’s Gwangyang port as part of the expansion of the FESCO Korea Soviet Direct Line (KSDL) route. The cargo flow to Gwangyang is mainly Russian timber industry products, which are delivered to various industries in the country.

The main KSDL route connects Vladivostok with South Korea’s main Busan port. That is served by a container ship with a capacity of 1.5 thousand TEU and operates a weekly schedule, however it will now also make calls to Gwangyang once a month.

In addition, through transhipment at the port of Busan, FESCO organises the delivery of container cargo from Indonesia, India, Singapore, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. By the end of 2024, FESCO shipped 49,000 TEU between Vladivostok and South Korea as part of the KSDL service. The FESCO Korea Soviet Direct Line was launched in 1991. It is one of the oldest operating marine services of the group.

FESCO Transport Group is one of the largest transport and logistics companies in Russia with assets in the field of port, railway and integrated logistics business. The Group owns Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port, the intermodal operator FESCO Integrated Transport, the operator of refrigerated containers Dalreftrans, Transgarant and FESCO Trans companies. The Group operates terminal complexes in Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Tomsk and Vladivostok. FESCO’s container fleet is more than 200,000 TEU, while the number of fitting platforms is almost 15,000 units. The fleet includes more than 30 transport vessels, which carry out transportation mainly on their own shipping lines. In November 2023, the controlling stake in the company was transferred to Rosatom State Corporation.

Russia’s bilateral trade with South Korea has fallen in recent years, with Seoul siding with the West concerning sanctions against Russia. The trade turnover was US$29.8 billion in 2021, declining to US$10 billion in 2024. South Korean exports are mainly auto components, while Russia’s mainly energy and timber products. However, if recent events prove amenable, Russia’s trade with South Korea may begin to improve.