Hanjin ship unloads in U.S. as fresh funds pledged (updated)

Hanjin Logistics

12/09/2016 09:44

(Recasts, adds detail on funding, comment from Seaspan Corp, 
Singapore-based cargo owner) 
    By Jim Christie and Joyce Lee 
    SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL, Sept 12 (Reuters) - A Hanjin Shipping 
Co Ltd  117930.KS  vessel is finishing unloading in California 
and scheduled to leave port on Monday, shipping industry 
officials said, as shareholders and executives associated with 
the South Korean firm pledged funds to help resolve the turmoil 
created by its collapse.  
    The Hanjin Greece docked in Long Beach on Saturday after a 
U.S. bankruptcy court granted it protection and terminal 
operators agreed to take it.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1BM0MT 
    Truck drivers probably will begin moving containers from the 
Greece on Monday while the vessel prepares to leave late in the 
day for the Port of Oakland, said Teamsters spokeswoman Barbara 
Maynard and shipping traffic controllers.  
    However, the Greece carries only a fraction of the $14 
billion in goods on dozens of ships owned or leased by the 
world's seventh-largest container carrier. 
    The collapse of Hanjin under debts of $5.5 billion has 
caused havoc in global trade networks and a surge in freight 
rates. Some vessels have also been seized. 
    On Monday, Choi Eun-young, a former chairwoman of Hanjin 
Shipping pledged to provide $9 million in private funds to help 
resolve the situation "in which economic damage is increasing 
from the turmoil in shipping due to its unexpected court 
restructuring". 
    Choi, who controlled Hanjin Shipping between 2007 and 2014, 
will provide the funds "within days". 
     Parent company Hanjin Group pledged last week to raise 100 
billion won ($90 million) in funds to help rescue stranded 
cargo.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1BI06K 
     Korean Air Lines  003490.KS , the biggest shareholder of 
Hanjin Shipping, on Saturday approved a conditional plan to 
provide a loan of 60 billion won to the troubled shipper. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1BM02E  
     Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho will raise the remaining 
40 billion won and the goal is to raise it by Tuesday as the 
funds are needed as soon as possible to unload cargo, a Korean 
Air spokesman said on Monday.   
     
    MORE SHIPS COMING 
    Charter owner Seaspan Corp  SSW.N  has three ships under 
charter with Hanjin  - the Hanjin Buddha, Hanjin Namu and Hanjin 
Tabul - which are all due to hit the U.S. West Coast within the 
next few days. Chief executive Gerry Wang said he was confident 
the South Korean government would provide sufficient funds to 
pay port operators and Seaspan by the time those ships arrived 
to ensure they were unloaded.  
    "We're keeping our fingers crossed, but South Korea is an 
export economy and the government needs to ensure the flow of 
goods to consumers," Wang said. "I don't think they want that 
supply chain to be interrupted on a permanent basis."  
    Creditors have sought an arrest warrant against the Seaspan 
Efficiency, a ship hauling cargo for Hanjin that was due to 
arrive in Savannah. Wang said the cargo concerned amount to just 
around $800,000 and that he was confident the parties involved 
could come to an agreement. 
    It is not clear when port operators will bring others to 
berths in Southern California and elsewhere. The U.S. court on 
Friday gave three other Hanjin ships protection from seizure. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1BL0PH 
    The three other Hanjin ships protected by the U.S. court 
order are the Hanjin Boston, which remained off the Port of Long 
Beach awaiting orders on Sunday, and the Hanjin Gdynia, which 
was several hundred miles away from Long Beach, and the Hanjin 
Jungil, 310 nautical miles west of San Francisco with its 
destination listed as Long Beach, according to Marine Exchanges 
on the west coast that coordinate shipping traffic. 
    Another Hanjin ship off Long Beach, the Hanjin Montevideo, 
is under the supervision of a court-ordered custodian after two 
fuel companies obtained an arrest warrant for it over unpaid 
bills. Hanjin and the fuel providers are trying to work out an 
arrangement to release the vessel. 
    In Hong Kong, the Hanjin Belawan arrived from Shanghai on 
Monday loaded with containers and was anchored a short distance 
from the city's Kwai Chung Container Terminal.  
    Terminal operator Hongkong International Terminals, a unit 
of Hutchison Port Holdings Trust controlled by tycoon Li 
Ka-shing, has outraged local cargo owners by charging fees of 
between HK$10,000-HK$15,000 ($1,285-$1,928) per Hanjin container 
to release them at the port. 
    The delays have concerned importers like Alex Rasheed, 
president of Pacific Textile and Sourcing Inc in Los Angeles, 
which has a shipment of clothing in 16 containers on Hanjin 
ships off Long Beach. 
    "We're already starting to run out of some colors and some 
sizes," Rasheed said, noting Hanjin's collapse comes as U.S. 
retailers prepare for the all-important holiday shopping season. 
    In Singapore, cargo owner AP Oil International said it had 
been sending replacement cargos on urgent orders. 
    "On the procurement side, we do also face some issues to 
receiving raw materials shipped on Hanjin vessels, which of 
course we are adjusting our supply chain and production to meet 
and replace the cargo due to the uncertainty of the situation 
now," Group Chief Executive Ho Chee Hon said. 
 
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Graphic on Hanjin Shipping    http://tmsnrt.rs/2cq2WWj 
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 (Additional reporting by Nick Carey and Keith Wallis; Editing 
by Peter Henderson and Lincoln Feast) 
 ((jim.christie@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +1-415-677-2539; 
Reuters Messaging: jim.christie.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: HANJIN SHIPPING DEBT/