Dock workers began unloading furniture, clothing and other cargo on Saturday from a container ship owned by bankrupt Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, breaking a logjam that has stranded goods on a dozen vessels bound for the U.S. West Coast.
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But the Hanjin Greece was finally to enter the Port of Long Beach and moor at a Total Terminals International berth, where the ship’s cargo will be unloaded, according to Capt. J. Kip Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
Earlier this week, the Hanjin Group, the parent company of the nation’s leading container shipping line, pledged to provide some 100 billion won (US$96.6 million), including 40 billion won of group chairman Cho Yang-ho’s personal assets, to the shipper, in a bid to help ease the cargo crisis triggered by the shipper’s receivership.
The Greece was one of four vessels that were blocked from entering or leaving the port after Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection on August 31 in South Korea and the USA on September 2.
Union officials have voiced concern about the welfare of crew members on Hanjin ships stuck at sea. Some have been seized on behalf of creditors.
Creditors of Hanjin Shipping, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank, said earlier it would not extend fresh financial aid to the ailing shipper now under court receivership, calling on the shipper to provide collateral for any funding.
On Friday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John K. Sherwood in New Jersey granted Hanjin protection from any more seizures in United States territory.
Earlier in the week, the Hanjin Group said it will inject almost $90 million, including $36 million from its chairman Cho Yang-ho’s personal assets, to help resolve disruptions to the supply chain.
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The support will be offered on condition of securing Hanjin Shipping’s Long Beach Terminal as collateral, Korean Air said.
