South Korea has unveiled a big new programme of subsidies for 2019 designed to boost the domestic shipping industry.
Among the measures are help for owners to order 60 more vessels, cash to open new routes and a stated aim to reduce the country's eight major boxship lines to six.
Maeil Business cited the ministry of oceans and fisheries as saying its policy is to order the new vessels through state investment company Korea Ocean Business Corp (KOBC).
The final target is 200 ship orders by 2022.
KOBC already inked contracts for 57 units including LNG carriers and boxships last year.
The government will subsidise 10% of the price if an owner upgrades from older ships to eco-friendly LNG-fuelled newbuildings.
The ministry also wants to reduce competition between lines and will encourage mergers to reduce the number of domestic containership operators.
Major port operators in places like Incheon and Busan will also be combined.
And the government wants to reclaim routes lost when Hanjin Shipping folded in 2016.
Aid will be available to open new services and expand shipping capacity.
The state is to form a company called K-Global Terminal Operators (K-GTO) in cooperation with shippers, port authorities and KOBC to secure operation rights at shipping terminals in countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.
