The stranded vessels, at ports in 23 countries including China and the US, have been seized or left anchored without work being done from them, the company said.
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The funding, however, is seen as falling far short of what the world’s seventh-largest container carrier needs after filing for court receivership last week when its creditors, led by Korea Development Bank (KDB), chose to halt support. The Hanjin Group’s Chairman Cho Yang Ho and the shipping company’s largest shareholder Korean Air Lines should take steps to ease the disruptions, Yim said.
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) took this decision to prevent the shipping crisis from affecting exports, the main engine of South Korea’s economic growth.
According to news reports, as of September 4, 79 out of a total of 128 vessels operated by Hanjin are seized, arrested or otherwise inoperable due to issues such as loading or unloading troubles.
The collapse last week of the world’s seventh-largest container shipper has caused much agonising among its clients over the fate of stranded cargo.
Hanjin Shipping shares fell 2 per cent to 1,215 won by midday in Seoul on Monday, giving the company a market value of 297 billion won ($US268 million). The company plans to expand the scope of its court protection as soon as possible, with plans to pursue legal action in as many as 43 countries.
“If Hanjin ships with cargo fail to dock at ports, exporters could also have to bear additional expenses on extra loading and offloading of goods as well as on finding other vessels for shipping their goods to the final destinations”.
The shipping company has posted net losses every year since 2011. The three ships include the Hanjin Rome in Singapore as well as two other container ships in unidentified locations in China, seized through Chinese court orders, the spokeswoman said. “But many experts’ view is that the possibility is low”, Yonhap quoted Yim as saying.
Another of the group’s core unit, Korean Air, also has a debt ratio exceeding 1,100 percent, with its liabilities rising from 20.7 trillion won ($18.7 billion) to 21.4 trillion won partly as a result of its financial support of the ailing shipping affiliate.
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