Incheon's new Sun-Kwang Newport Container Terminal dock its first shipping line in mid-May when Hyundai Merchant Marine's 6,800-TEU Hyundai Tokyo calls.

This is in consequence of Incheon being added to the G6 Alliance's weekly Central China 1 (CC1) service that links north east Asia and the US west coast with direct services to Los Angeles and Oakland.

The terminal in South Korea is equipped with seven gantry cranes and 24 yard cranes, and its shoreside facilities have been automated with unmanned equipment.

The mechanised operation allows faster container handling for the short hop to the market in Seoul and the Incheon Mill Delivery Zone.

The new Sun-Kwang terminal will operate seven days a week and is part of an ambitious expansion plan by the Incheon Port Authority that has targeted a throughput of 2.6 million TEU this year, an increase of 11.4 per cent over 2014, reported Newark's Journal of Commerce.

Incheon Newport comprises two container terminals able to handle 8,000-TEU ships. Terminal B opened last year and has a water depth of 46 feet and quay length of 448 yards. Terminal A is planned to be completed in early 2016 and will have the same draft but offer a longer quay length of 874 yards.