South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co. containers are seen in the Port of Long Beach, Calif., on Thursday, Sep 1, 2016.
Advertisement
Around US$14 billion of cargo has been tied up globally as ports, tugboat operators and cargo handling firms anxious about being paid refused to work for Hanjin, which filed for receivership in a Seoul court early this month.
Creditors reportedly seized several ships because fuel providers were not paid about $750,000, according to news reports.
Meanwhile, the goods owners who meant to sign contracts with Hanjin have hurried to change their plans.
The decision will allow goods on at least four Hanjin ships to come into port in the U.S. and be unloaded without fear of having them seized by creditors.
A Hanjin manager confirmed that Hanjin’s ships were rejected to enter Busan Port in South Korea. Hanjin Shipping is seeking bankruptcy protection at home and in the U.S. after creditors rejected its latest plan to deal with a $5.37 billion debt. Some vessels have also been seized.
The Greece was set to leave the Long Beach on Monday night and head to Oakland, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California, which tracks cargo ship traffic.
The maker of electronic goods including Galaxy smartphones said the judge should issue an order barring the seizure of ships and allow it and other cargo owners to retrieve their goods by paying cargo handlers, who have been demanding payment guarantees. That’s created a freaky situation on the high seas for 85 Hanjin ships that have been effectively marooned offshore as ports in the U.S., Asia and Europe have turned the company’s ships away.
In an email, Soren Egholm, vice president of trade and marketing at Maersk Line North America, said that as a “financially strong company we are now being approached by many customers on the Transpacific who ask if we can provide alternative transport solutions for their cargo”.
Korean Air Lines, the biggest shareholder of Hanjin Shipping, on Saturday approved a conditional plan to provide a loa to the troubled shipper.
Hanjin would normally pay the fees for port usage and container handling as part of its freight services, but because it is in receivership, it is unclear whether customers will be able to recover any added costs they pay to retrieve their goods.
Advertisement
Hanjin Group also announced that the 40 billion won funding from the group Chairman Cho Yang-ho’s own coffers is undergoing legal progress to be delivered by this coming Tuesday. But he said shipping rates to Australia were still at “poverty level”.
