The Busan Port Authority, governing body of the Korean port of Busan, said it would have 20 million containers in the port on Sunday.
Earlier last year, the authority handled 19.4 million cargos last year, falling short of its goal of handling 19.5 million cargos although the total amount rose by 3.9 percent from the previous year.
Considering that the global top 10 ports' freight volume increased merely 0.4 percent amid the slowdown of the global economies, Busan port has fared well. The global number one and two ports in Singapore and Hong Kong dropped 8.2 percent and 8.9 percent each.
This year, the freight volume is not expected to jump as the global economies continue to see recession.
This year, the BPA set a goal of handling 20 million by raising the efficiency of the port operation and strengthening marketing activities to attract more transit shipments.
The port authority plans to attract 450,000 cruise tourists, double the number of last year's tourists. It said 26 ships, including Asia's largest cruise ship Quantum of the Seas, are expected to come to the Busan port 226 times this year, citing its survey. The number of tourists boarding the ship is estimated to be around 450,000.
The BPA said it would improve the facility to attract more cruise ships in partnership with the government authorities.