ASTORIA — The Port of Astoria has signed a sister port agreement with the South Korean Busan Port Authority.

On Nov. 22, representatives from both ports met in South Korea to sign the formal agreement.

“It’s a developing relationship. It’s focused on the long term,” said Port of Astoria Director Jack Crider, who traveled to Busan as the port’s representative.

Busan has financial resources, but also the need for contacts with flexible Western ports, Crider said. Astoria isn’t as crowded as larger ports, and the relationship between Busan and Astoria has the potential to be more one on one.

Avenue of growth

“As we see state and federal funds dry up, this could be another option to help us expand,” he said.

The two ports want to strengthen trade development by discussing port operations, cargo handling equipment, maintenance, shipping plans and trends; by exchanging trade information that could help both ports grow; and by providing introductions to key public and private officials.

But as for the precise outworking of the sister port agreement, the day-to-day details, what information is specifically exchanged, that still needs to be figured out. The most immediate step is for Astoria to form a committee of staff and employees to help inform and guide the new relationship.

The trip to Busan “went very well,” Crider said. “There was a little excitement about North Korea.”

Crider arrived in Busan just in time for two events: an artillery clash between North and South Korea, and the arrival of the log ship that had docked several weeks earlier in Astoria.

At the beginning of November, Westerlund Log Handlers loaded around 1 million board feet onto this log ship, the first one to dock at the Port of Astoria in 14 years. Several weeks later, in South Korea, Crider, along with Westerlund CEO Dave Westerlund and Roger Nance, Westerlund Log Handler’s vice president and managing director, watched as those same logs were unloaded at the Busan port facilities.

The sister port agreement between Astoria and Busan stems primarily from this reintroduction of log export operations at the Port of Astoria. When Westerlund began work at Pier 1, the port was ready to expand the scope of its operations.

With the help of consultant Dr. Sonny Park, who has contacts in South Korea, Astoria began seeking agreements with South Korean ports this year. This fall, Crider and Commissioner Floyd Holcom traveled to South Korea, making presentations and meeting other port representatives.

In a commission meeting after this first trip, Holcom said compared with the foreign ports, Astoria looked pretty tiny. It was a learning experience, he said.

Then Astoria heard that Busan was interested.

“They looked at all our facilities,” Crider said. “They were especially interested in the development of the Tongue Point facility.”

Port of Astoria Commissioner Dan Hess admitted, at a commission meeting, that he hadn’t at first seen the significance of crafting a sister port agreement with Busan.

“This is very significant,” Commissioner Jack Bland told him.

‘Just the beginning’

“This agreement is just the beginning of a long overdue relationship with one of our country’s key allies in the Pacific,” said Holcom.

He added that South Korea is “Oregon’s number two international trading partner, behind Canada but ahead of Japan, to a little over $1.5 billion per year.”

“This is a significantly positive direction for the Port of Astoria,” he said. To him, it means “getting back to the root of the Port’s historical mission.”

Representatives from the Busan port will be visiting Astoria, probably at the end of January, Crider said.