The world’s seventh-largest shipping company, Hanjin Shipping Co., based in South Korea, has declared bankruptcy, which resulted in the company’s ships being barred from entering ports worldwide and unloading cargo.
The world’s seventh-largest shipping company, Hanjin Shipping Co., based in South Korea, has declared bankruptcy, which resulted in the company’s ships being barred from entering ports worldwide and unloading cargo.
Exporters and importers whose cargo has been stranded can seek recourse using guidance provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In the U.S., cargo at the TTI terminal in Long Beach, N.Y., will be released if cargo owners are willing to pay deposits of $3,000–$4,000 per 40-foot container. The deposits would be refunded upon return of the empty container, but currently no terminal is accepting empty Hanjin containers, according to the Hardwood Federation.
The same deposit requirement has been implemented for cargo on ships still docked in Hong Kong, Shanghai and elsewhere in Asia.
It remains unknown what can be done for cargo inside the approximately 540,000 containers stranded on Hanjin vessels still at sea.
The South Korean government announced it would make $90 million available to Hanjin if the company could match the amount, which the company signaled it would do, according to the Wall Street Journal.
However, according to the Hardwood Federation, the combined $180 million may not be enough to assist with the unloading of stranded Hanjin ships.
More information is available via the Federal Maritime Commission.