South Korean Bunker Operations Return to Normal Following Week-Long Strike

Bunkering has returned to normal in South Korea after barge owners ended their week-long strike.

Bunkering has returned to normal in South Korea after bunker barge owners ended their week-long strike, which disrupted operations along the country's south coast, Platts reports.

"Barge operators ended their strike as they reached an agreement with oil refiners over the weekend," said Kim Byung-Nam, an official at South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF).

"As the deal was reached on Saturday, bunker fuel operations have been fully normalised on Monday morning."

As Ship & Bunker reported last week, authorities were working to minimise bunker supply disruptions resulting from the bunker tanker operator strike at the ports of Busan, Ulsan, and Yeosu, which had been running since midnight local time last Monday.

Mediated by South Korea's maritime ministry, barge owners are reported to have been holding negotiations since Friday with the country's four oil refiners SK Innovation, GS Caltex, S-Oil, and Hyundai Oilbank.

While the barge owners had been pushing for a 40 to 100 percent increase in operating fees, negotiations led the owners to accept a 10 to 20 percent fee increase, with oil refiners agreeing to a government's proposal to have external research conducted on operating fee levels and other conditions for barge owners.

"We hope the outside research would fairly reflect operating fees that have been frozen for the past 20 years, and this is why we decided to end the strike despite the lower-than-expected increase in fees in this negotiation," said Lee Dae-Won, a director of the Korea Oil Supply Shipowner's Association.

Traders estimate that inquiries were down by as much as 50 percent at affected ports last Thursday as a result of the strike action.