Port Safety Personnel Shortage Persists... Inspectors Only 28% of Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries Requested Staff

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] According to the 'Port Safety Special Act' implemented nationwide since August this year, the number of port safety inspectors dedicated to port safety tasks across the country is only 28% of the personnel originally requested by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

On the 6th, according to the 'Port Safety Inspector Deployment Status' submitted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to Yoon Joon-byung, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the 11 regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Offices nationwide have secured one port safety inspector each, totaling 11 personnel. This is about 28.2% of the 39 personnel initially requested by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Port safety inspectors are personnel assigned to port management authorities under Article 9 of the Port Safety Special Act (Establishment and Approval of Self-Safety Management Plans, etc.) to inspect whether port stevedoring operators comply with safety management plans. They enter workplaces to inspect safety management-related documents within ports, verify safety management status, conduct investigations and inspections, and if deemed necessary to improve or supplement safety measures, they request corrective actions from port stevedoring operators.

The total number of port workplaces under the jurisdiction of the 11 regional Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Offices is 372, handling a cargo volume of 1,372.92 million tons (based on 2020). This means that one port safety inspector is responsible for an average of 33.8 workplaces and 124.81 million tons of cargo volume. This is approximately 3.4 times the management demand per inspector previously determined by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (10 port workplaces and 37 million tons of cargo volume per inspector).

In the case of the Busan Office, which oversees 56 port workplaces and handles 410.95 million tons of cargo, although 11 port safety inspectors were initially requested, only one (9%) was secured. Similarly, the Yeosu Office, which oversees 52 port workplaces and handles 275.37 million tons of cargo, secured only one (14.2%) out of the initially requested seven inspectors, raising concerns about uniform personnel allocation.

Assemblyman Yoon pointed out, "Despite differences in the characteristics, number, and cargo volume of port workplaces under each regional office's jurisdiction, as well as differences in port environments, the uniform allocation of one inspector per office does not align with the purpose and intent of the Special Act."