Report: German Ports Open to Stranded Hanjin Boxships
Hanjin Gold at the Port of Hamburg. Image Courtesy: HHM / Dietmar HasenpuschSouth Korea’s financially troubled ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping has been cleared to unload and load containers at German ports after a German court accepted the company’s request for stay of proceedings, Yonhap News Agency reports.
Apart from Germany, Hanjin has had its stay of proceedings requests accepted in Japan, the UK, and the USA, with the decisions from Singapore and Belgium pending.
The company plans to file similar requests in other countries such as Mexico and Spain as well.
Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy protection in South Korea and the US at the end of August, which left more than half of the company’s fleet stranded at sea in order to avoid possible seizures of either vessels or cargo by creditors and port workers.
Out of 97 of Hanjin’s container ships, 35 have unloaded their cargo as of September 22.
Earlier this week, Hanjin received a financial boost to cover the expenses of the unloading operations.
Korea Development Bank, the company’s largest creditor, has set aside KRW 50 billion (USD 45.2 million) in cash to help Hanjin offload cargo from the stranded ships.
Korean Air Lines Co., Hanjin’s largest shareholder, decided to provide KRW 60 billion to the company, and Hanjin Group’s chairman Cho Yang-ho reportedly offered 40 billion won in personal assets to help the carrier complete the offloading.
World Maritime News Staff
