Korean Used Car FAS Shipping: Free Alongside Ship Explained (2026)

Korean used car FAS shipping (Free Alongside Ship) is the sea-only origin Incoterm where the exporter delivers the car — already cleared for export — alongside the vessel you nominated, on the quay or a barge at the named Korean load port, and risk passes to you right there, before the car is loaded on board. From alongside the ship onward, you handle loading, the main carriage, insurance and everything at destination. In one line: FAS stops one step short of FOB — the seller readies and export-clears the car and sets it beside the ship, but you take it from the quay onto the vessel and across the sea.

FAS is the last of the eleven Incoterms 2020 rules, and one of only four written for pure sea transport — FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF. It is a niche term for ordinary cars: for a passenger car or SUV going by RoRo or container, FOB or the any-mode FCA is almost always cleaner, because FAS leaves the car on the quay at your risk while it waits for its loading slot. This guide explains what FAS covers, how it sits against FOB and FCA, the sea-freight ladder it belongs to, the loading-gap risk that defines it, what a FAS price includes, and the narrow cases where it actually fits. New to importing? Start with our step-by-step buying guide, or browse what is ready to ship in our live Hyundai inventory.

What Korean Used Car FAS Shipping Means

FAS stands for Free Alongside Ship. It is an Incoterm — one of the standard international trade rules published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) — that defines who pays what, who does what, and where risk passes from seller to buyer. Under FAS, the seller delivers the goods, cleared for export, by placing them alongside the nominated vessel — on the quay, the wharf, or a barge — at the named port of shipment. The instant that happens, in Korea, risk passes to the buyer, and from there the buyer arranges loading and the main carriage.

The word that carries all the weight is “alongside.” FAS is one of the four Incoterms 2020 rules written only for sea and inland waterway transport, so it always attaches to a specific ship at a specific Korean load port — Busan, Incheon, Pyeongtaek or Masan. On a Korean used car export, a genuine FAS shipment means the exporter sources and prepares the vehicle, de-registers it, files the export declaration, and sets the car down beside the vessel ready for your carrier to lift or drive it aboard — for example “FAS Busan, MV Example Voyage 24.” What the exporter does not do under FAS is load the car on board, book or pay the ocean freight, insure the voyage, or clear customs at your destination. Those are all yours.

Korea is a strong origin for sea-freight terms because its cars are factory left-hand drive and its ports and forwarding networks are mature. KAMA (Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association) reports Korea exported more than 400,000 used vehicles in 2025, and the overwhelming majority moved by RoRo or in consolidated containers — both of which are handled at the terminal or driven aboard rather than swung over from alongside, which is exactly why FAS is uncommon for ordinary cars and FOB or FCA does the job better.

FAS vs FOB vs FCA: Where Each Term Stops

FAS, FOB and FCA are all origin terms — the buyer, not the seller, arranges the main international carriage. What separates them is a single question: how far toward the ship does the seller carry the car, and does the term even require a ship? The table below lays them out side by side. For the full family of eleven, see our Incoterms guide for Korean car buyers.

Read the three columns as increasing seller reach toward the vessel. FAS stops alongside the ship — the car is beside the vessel, but getting it aboard is the buyer's job, and the buyer already carries the risk. FOB goes one step further and puts the car on board, keeping the tricky loading step and its risk on the seller — which is why FOB is the usual sea-freight origin choice for a car. FCA is different in kind: it is an any-mode term that hands the car to your carrier at a named place, so it fits containers and RoRo where FAS and FOB, written for a ship's side, do not sit as neatly. That is the whole map: FAS is one rung below FOB, and FCA is the modern, container-ready alternative to both.

The Four Sea-Freight Terms: FAS → FOB → CFR → CIF

FAS does not stand alone. It is the bottom rung of a four-term ladder that Incoterms 2020 reserves for sea and inland waterway transport only. Each rung adds one more thing the seller does, and moves the deal further from “buyer controls everything” toward “seller delivers to your port with cover.” Knowing the ladder tells you at a glance how a FAS quote compares to the alternatives an exporter will usually offer instead.

The pattern is clean. FAS and FOB are origin terms — the seller stops in Korea and you take over the sea leg. CFR and CIF are main-carriage terms — the seller books and pays the ocean freight to your port, and CFR leaves insurance to you while CIF adds minimum cover. For a Korean used car, most buyers who want origin-side control land on FOB, most who want the exporter to arrange shipping land on CFR or CIF, and buyers reaching inland who want an insured door-to-dry-port solution reach for the any-mode CIP. FAS, the lowest rung, survives mainly for break-bulk and heavy units loaded by the port's own equipment — more on that below.

Where Risk Passes Under FAS: The Loading Gap

Under FAS, risk passes from seller to buyer the moment the car is placed alongside the nominated vessel at the named Korean load port — on the quay or a barge, before the car is loaded on board. That single fact is what defines FAS and what makes it riskier than FOB for an ordinary car: the loading operation itself, and any wait on the quay for a loading slot, are on you.

Look at box B versus box C. Between them sits the loading gap — the car is beside the ship, at your risk, and still has to get aboard. If the vessel is delayed, arrives late, or the car sits at the wharf awaiting its slot, that exposure is yours. Under FOB, by contrast, risk would not pass until the car was actually on board, so the seller would carry that gap. This is the single most important reason FOB is preferred over FAS for a standard Korean car: FOB puts the awkward loading moment on the party best placed to manage it — the seller at the Korean port.

Because risk lands on you right at box B, the practical lesson under FAS is to arrange your cargo insurance to attach from the alongside point, so the car is covered while it waits at the quay, during loading, across the sea leg — typically 15 to 40 days between Busan and a port such as Jebel Ali or Mombasa — and on any onward journey. If damage does occur, our marine insurance claim guide walks through documenting and filing. Under an insured term like CIP the seller must insure for you; under FAS the cover is entirely yours to buy, and skipping it is the most expensive mistake you can make.

What a FAS Price Includes and Excludes

A FAS quotation is close to the bare, ex-Korea value of the car plus export handling, stopping one step before loading — so it sits a touch below a FOB price, since FOB includes getting the car on board. Here is what a proper Korean used car FAS shipping price should and should not contain.

Included in a genuine FAS price

• The vehicle at its agreed condition, plus export preparation and de-registration in Korea.
• Korean export customs clearance and the export declaration.
• Delivery alongside the nominated vessel at the named Korean load port — on the quay, wharf or barge.
• Handover documents proving the car was placed alongside the ship.

Excluded under FAS (the buyer pays)

• Loading the car on board the vessel — this is yours under FAS, unlike FOB.
• The main international carriage — you book and pay the ocean freight, on a prepaid or collect basis you choose.
• Cargo insurance — you arrange it, attaching from the alongside point.
• Import duty, VAT and customs clearance at destination, as broken down in our customs valuation guide.
• Destination terminal handling, any cargo tracking note or pre-shipment inspection your country requires, and local registration.

How a FAS Shipment Flows, Step by Step

Under FAS the exporter carries the car only up to the ship's side, then your side loads it and takes over the transport. The sequence looks like this, with the pivotal moment at Step 3, where risk passes to you on the quay.

Notice that Step 3 is where FAS earns its identity: the exporter's job ends when the car is set beside the vessel, so from Step 4 onward the loading, the sailing, the freight rate, the insurance and the tracking are all in your hands. That is one step earlier than FCA or FOB, and the opposite of a term like CFR, where the seller books the sea leg for you. The full journey from Korea to your gate is mapped in our shipping logistics guide, the origin paperwork in our bill of lading guide, and the RoRo alternative — where cars are simply driven aboard, sidestepping the FAS loading question — in our RoRo shipping guide.

What FAS Costs: FAS → Landed by Destination

A FAS price is essentially the ex-Korea value of the car plus export handling, stopping just short of loading — slightly below a FOB price. The chart below shows how a roughly $10,000 Korean used SUV moves from FAS to a full landed cost once you add loading, your freight, insurance and destination duty. Figures are illustrative 2026 estimates based on SH GLOBAL shipment records and published duty rates; your exact number depends on the car's customs value, engine size, route and current national tariff.

Two lessons hide in this chart. First, the FAS figure of about $9,900 is only a hair below the roughly $10,000 an FOB quote would show — the difference is essentially the loading charge — yet FAS shifts the loading step and its risk onto you. For a small saving you take on the loading gap, which is why FOB usually wins for a normal car. Second, the insurance premium is small — only about 1 to 2 percent of value — so there is never a good reason to skip it just because FAS makes it your job. If you want the exporter to book the sea leg instead, compare against CFR or CIF, where freight (and, for CIF, minimum insurance) come bundled to your port.

When FAS Makes Sense, and When It Doesn't

FAS earns its place with cargo that is loaded onto the ship by the port's or the carrier's own equipment rather than driven or lifted aboard by the seller — think break-bulk and oversized units where the loading is a specialised operation the buyer's carrier controls. For a standard passenger car or SUV it offers no advantage over FOB or FCA and adds the loading gap. Match it to your cargo.

For break-bulk and heavy units — a coach bus, a commercial truck, plant or machinery lifted aboard by the port — Korean used car FAS shipping (or its cargo equivalent) can be the natural fit, because the exporter delivers the unit to the ship's side and the carrier's crane does the rest. But for an ordinary passenger car or SUV, that logic disappears: on RoRo the car is simply driven aboard, so FOB fits perfectly and keeps loading on the seller; in a container the car is handed over at a yard, so the any-mode FCA is the technically correct term. If someone quotes you FAS on a normal Korean car, ask why FOB or FCA would not serve you better — usually they would, at a nearly identical price and with less risk on your side.

Available for FAS, FOB, FCA, CFR, CIF, CIP, DAP or DDP terms depending on your cargo, country and forwarder. Explore Hyundai inventory.

How SH GLOBAL Handles FAS

SH GLOBAL Co., Ltd. quotes FAS where it genuinely fits — most often for break-bulk buses, trucks and machinery — alongside FOB, FCA, CFR, CIF and CIP, so buyers can pick the term that matches their cargo and how much of the shipping they want to control. For FAS specifically, our approach:

• Honest term guidance. For an ordinary car we will usually recommend FOB or FCA over FAS, because they remove the loading gap for a near-identical price — and we explain exactly why rather than quoting the cheapest-looking line.
• Full Korean export clearance. We de-register the car and file the export declaration, so what we place alongside the ship is a vehicle already legally cleared to leave Korea.
• Precise vessel and port, in writing. Every FAS contract names the exact load port and vessel and states that delivery is alongside, so there is never a dispute over where risk passed.
• Break-bulk coordination. For buses, trucks and machinery loaded by port equipment, we deliver the unit to the ship's side to match your carrier's loading plan.
• Insurance reminder. Because cover is the buyer's job under FAS, we flag that your cargo insurance should attach from the alongside point, and can point you to our export insurance guide.

Paired with direct auction sourcing at FOB prices 10–15% below typical dealer markups and multilingual support in Arabic, English and Korean, that is how SH GLOBAL makes sure you choose the right Incoterm for your shipment — not just the one with the lowest headline number.

Conclusion: The Last Rung of the Sea-Freight Ladder

Korean used car FAS shipping is the sea-only origin Incoterm where the exporter delivers the car, cleared for export, alongside the nominated vessel at the named Korean load port, and risk passes to you there — before the car is loaded on board — while you handle loading, the main carriage, insurance and everything at destination. It is the bottom rung of the FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF sea ladder, one step below FOB. Remember the essentials: FAS transfers risk to you on the quay, before loading, so it carries a loading gap FOB does not; the price saving over FOB is usually trivial; and for a standard car, FOB (RoRo) or FCA (container) is almost always the cleaner choice, leaving FAS for break-bulk and heavy units the port loads for you.

Want to see FAS, FOB, FCA, CFR and CIF quoted side by side for your exact car or unit, country and forwarder — with the load port, loading, freight, insurance and duty spelled out? Request a free quotation from SH GLOBAL and we will lay out the true cost so you can choose the right Incoterm for your shipment.