South Korea’s lead financial regulator said today that Hanjin Shipping will receive no financial aid from the state.
Reeling from a very tricky restructuring, the Seoul-headquartered line needs to come up with liquidity fast or risk entering court receivership.
Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said: “Hanjin Shipping is in talks over ship mortgage loans with 34 financial institutions at home and abroad”. The line is also going through charter rate negotiations and debt rescheduling.
Yim said the government would not be pumping any money into the line.
Seoul has come in for lots of criticism of late for the amount of money it has pumped into ailing shipping-related industries, especially the nation’s yards, forcing the government to backtrack and steer clear from further overt support for the sector.
Hanjin Shipping could suffer a cash shortage of as much as KRW1.2trn ($1.1bn) in the next 18 months.
Authorities have urged Hanjin Group and Korean Air to come to the rescue of the struggling shipping line.
