Panstar Group, a South Korean ferry operator, is entering the boxship market.

Panstar, known for its South Korea to Japan ferry services that carry containers as well, is now deploying a feeder ship between the two countries.

The 1998-built 630 teu Honor Voyager will launch Panstar’s liner service in June, when it departs Busan and calls at Kobe, Tokyo Yokohama, Nagoya, and Yokohama.

Panstar believes that it has acquired sufficient knowledge in the cargo trades, and plans to expand next year its portfolio to include more Japanese, Chinese and South East Asia ports.

Eom Sang Hoon, vice-chairman of the operator, said yesterday that there could be synergy between transporting high-value cargo on ro ro passenger ships and transporting generic consumer goods in containerships.

The company began in 1990 as a freight forwarder. In 2002, it launched a Busan to Osaka ferry service. Over the next 20 years, they expanded their shipping operations, launching an intermodal service that involved sea transport between Busan and Osaka, and rail transport to other Japanese cities.

Mr Eom acknowledged that competition on the South Korea to Japan route was fierce, but believed Panstar would be able to break through. He said that entering new markets was always difficult. In order to achieve a successful sales strategy, it is important to have a long-term knowledge of shipping and sales. We have been researching the container business for over 10 years.

“When the market’s good, cargo volume and profits increase to a certain point, but can operators overcome high costs over the long term? When the market is bad and demand is low, operators are unsure if they will even break even.

“However, if we think about it, charter costs can fall when the market is tough, and this can be a positive.”

Mr Eom said that Panstar was open to launching joint services with other operators.

“Recently foreign operators have also launched South Korea-Japan service and this has affected the revenue of South Korean operators.” I hope that this will lead to more cooperation between South Korean operators.