Bankrupt Hanjin Shipping has redelivered the majority of its chartered-in vessels with more to follow, which is swelling the global fleet of idled containerships, according to research by Alphaliner.
Since the line filed for receivership on August 31, the South Korean carrier has returned 67 vessels (360,790 teu total capacity) to their owners.
These redeliveries have caused the fleet of idle containerships of over 500 teu to surge to 371 vessels (1.33m teu total), as of October 3, Alphaliner said in its latest weekly report.
Some 36 containerships (282,700 teu total) remain under Hanjin’s control as of Tuesday this week, the research said.
Most of these vessels will be returned to their owners once the cargo onboard has been unloaded, which is expected to happen by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, there remain six vessels that are “in question”, which were previously listed as Hanjin-owned but are expected to be taken over by their secured creditors, Alphaliner said.
Twelve containerships have been detained by creditors, although the line has already negotiated the release of six of these vessels.
Alphaliner voiced scepticism that Hanjin would focus purely on its operations in the intra-Asia market when it submits its rehabilitation plan in December, as some press reports have suggested.
“It has to be considered that Hanjin ceased running its intra-Asia services in September,” the report said.
