Busan Port's cruise ship visits to resume after 3 years of hiatus

Cruise ship visits to Busan Port, which was suspended after COVID-19, will resume after three years.

The Busan Port Authority said Friday that cruise ship tours are set to begin again on Mar. 15, starting with German Bernhard Schulte's 28,000-ton MS Amadea carrying 600 passengers and entering the port through Japan.

It has been almost three years since the ban in Feb. 2020 due to the pandemic for cruise vessels to enter the port.

The Busan Port Authority expects more than 80 cruise ships to visit Busan Port this year. Given that the number of cruises paying visits to the port before the outbreak was more than 100 per year, it is estimated to recover to the 70-80% level this year.

Ahead of the resumption of cruise tours, eight organizations, including the Busan Port Authority, customs office, immigration office, and quarantine authorities, shared information and discussed immigration procedures on Friday.

"There are currently 80 cruises scheduled to call in Busan, but when Chinese ports open up, the number of cruise ships and tourists visiting Busan Port will increase substantially," said an official of the Busan Port Authority.

Write to Ji-Hee Choi at mymasaki@hankyung.com