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In my previous question I pointed out that there is a very large Korean shipyard on the southern Black Sea coast of Romania.

This made me wonder if there might be any chance of hopping about a freighter from Mangalia, Romania to South Korea (I assume Busan)... Or at least whether Korean freight shipping lines are known to take passengers at least occasionally.

C. TRIUMPH
Korean ship docked at the Mangalia/2 Mai shipyard in Romania. Photo by the OP (hippietrail).

Has anyone here got any freighter travel experience? Where might I even check? Do people that travel this way enquire directly at shipyards or is it all done through agents etc?

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That'd require going through North Korea, right? – Andrew Grimm Aug 19 '12 at 23:10
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@AndrewGrimm - no, usually freighters, being boats, go by ocean. :) – Mark Mayo Aug 20 '12 at 0:23
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1) Ship builders are different from shipping lines. 2) Where a shipping line is based is not necessarily where they operate. There might be ten times as many options to take a freighter built in Taiwan, registered in Liberia, and operated by Greeks on that route. – choster Aug 20 '12 at 21:15
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Well they don't just build ships - there's a Korean ship there right now - for all I know it's departing for Korea next month after some minor repairs. Which reminds me to add the photo ... So you are saying that riding a freighter is exclusively possible via the shipping lines and not via anyone aboard the ship, or over the Internet? – hippietrail Aug 20 '12 at 21:19
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@hippietrail The ship pictured, shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1627145 , has not been to Korea for at least a year and a half as you can see from the port history. The owner and operator, Chang Myung Shipping (cmship.co.kr), is a charterer, and you can inquire with them as to whether they accept passengers. – choster Aug 22 '12 at 14:53
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This reminded my of Grimaldi Freighter Cruises that offers this service. Also the list of travel agents on the "How to book" page gives clues about whom to contact in different countries. One would guess that something similar is available for the far east also.

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