Busan Eyes Japanese Cargo Shift After Premier Alliance Drops Japan from Asia-Europe Network

Busan Port Authority is positioning to capture Japanese cargo after the Premier Alliance confirmed it will drop Japan from its Asia-Europe rotations in April, severing the country’s last direct mainline link to the continent.

BPA held seminars in Japan last week, targeting shippers in Niigata and Hachinohe with a pitch that routing Europe-bound cargo through Busan as a transhipment hub could cut logistics costs by as much as 30% compared with land transport to Japan’s major gateways. The move aims to reinforce Busan’s position as north-east Asia’s largest transhipment centre, where 14.1m teu was transhipped in 2025 — up 4% year-on-year and accounting for nearly 57% of the port’s throughput.

The Premier Alliance — Ocean Network Express (ONE), HMM and Yang Ming — has streamlined its 2026 service network with fewer port calls across both Asia-Europe and transpacific trades, concentrating mainline vessel calls on hubs including Shanghai and Busan. A new FE1 loop will link Laem Chabang to Cai Mep with Singapore, Rotterdam and Hamburg, while the FE4 service will call only Shanghai and Busan on the Asian leg. No Japanese port features on any Asia-Europe string.