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Hanjin readies further layoffs as liquidation rumours grow

Hanjin Shipping has handed 560 crew redundancy notices effective December 10 with the remaining 2,000 crew linked to the Korean line expected to receive similar notices in the coming couple of weeks, Korean business daily Pulse is reporting.

The business title also states that every single ship in the Hanjin fleet will now be sold to pay off debts.

Today also marked the deadline for bids to be submitted to take over a tranche of Hanjin assets including five 6,500 teu ships and a stake in a terminal in Long Beach. Five bids are believed to have been tabled – all from Korean companies, with Hyundai Merchant Marine deemed the likely winner.

Further asset sales are taking place across the globe. For instance, Splash reported earlier this week lead creditor Korea Development Bank has lined up four 4,200 teu ships in Hong Kong for brokers to assess.

Hanjin’s bankruptcy at the end of August is the largest in container shipping history. While senior management have desperately tried to concoct a rehabilitation plan whereby it could carry on as an intra-Asia operator, increasingly liquidation looks the most likely outcome for what used to South Korea’s largest shipowner. Hanjin has today slid out of the top 20 list in Alphaliner’s global liner league, being replaced by Iran’s IRISL.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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