As a result of the firm’s financial crisis, many seaports in Europe, North America and Asia have rejected Hanjing container ships, fearing that the company would not have sufficient funds to pay for its cargo to be unloaded.
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A USA judge on Friday signed an order granting Hanjin Shipping provisional protection from creditors in the United States, enabling some vessels to dock and unload at US ports.
The money is part of 100 billion won that Hanjin Group, which controls Korean Air, said September 6 that it would provide to help ease the supply-chain disruptions. The fate of the remaining nine ships at sea is unclear.
The government expects the unloading of the Hanjin Greece ship, which had been stranded near Long Beach since August 31, to be followed by other vessels including the Hanjin Boston located close to the port, the Finance and Oceans and Fisheries ministries said in a statement Saturday.
“In terms of how much cargo is impacted, the only solid number we’ve heard came from the Korean ministry that said we’re talking about 500,000 containers”, Jensen says.
Samsung said an order this week by a United States bankruptcy judge did not encourage the Hanjin ships to enter USA ports as intended, which the company blamed on a misunderstanding of maritime law, the bankruptcy code and Korean law. The worry is that Hanjin ships won’t be able to pay port fees or their contents might be seized by creditors, which would disrupt port operations. In fact, at least one of Hanjin’s ships has already been seized by creditors in Singapore, Reuters reported.
So far, the company is not behind in its rent payments, the bureau said, adding that it would closely monitor the handling of containers at the port. “The Hanjin ships are going to be off the market for the holiday seasons”.
The Hanjin Shipping Co dock is seen at the Port of Long Beach, California, September 9, 2016.
“We hope that a further ruling by the USA bankruptcy court. will provide additional guidance and clarity on how USA shippers, including retailers can retrieve their containers, ” Gold says.
Uncertainty about freight fees was leading to vast numbers of containers clogging warehouses at port terminals.
Sherwood repeatedly urged the parties to “self-help” and work out the problems as best they could.
“The recent bankruptcy filing of South Korean shipping company Hanjin Shipping presents an enormous challenge to U.S. shippers, the effects of which could have a substantial impact on consumers and the economy at-large”, Sandra Kennedy, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, wrote in a letter sent last week to U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Mario Cordero, calling on the two to “resolve the immediate disruption and mitigate the harms posed by the current situation”.
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Shipping companies world-wide are suffering from depressed freight rates caused by years of weakening demand-particularly from China-as global trade has slowed.
