Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd News

Global trade tensions have captured headlines in recent months, as the imposition of a series of tariffs and counter-tariffs by various global trade counterparts has raised questions about the possibility of a trade war. Such development could potentially have an impact on global trade flows, and, consequently, the companies which facilitate international movement of goods.Though the situation is still developing and the final impact is uncertain, Gregory Draco, the Chief U.S. Economist at Oxford, predicted in July that the tariffs would create an 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent drag on U.S. GDP.

Japan's big three shippers on Monday reported profits for the first quarter, bouncing back from losses a year earlier and raising hopes the firms could be emerging from the industry's worst-ever downturn on record. Mitsui OSK Lines swung to a 1.1 billion yen ($10 million) operating profit in April-June from a loss of 3.6 billion yen a year earlier, as a strong U.S. economy lifted freight volumes on routes between Asia and North America to record levels in the last quarter. It now expects an 18 billion yen operating profit in the year through next March, double its previous forecast for 9 billion yen. Nippon Yusen booked operating income of 3.6 billion yen compared with a loss of 11 billion yen a year earlier…

Debt-to-equity swap plan is condition of $2.6 bln bailout. South Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd on Monday won near unanimous approval for a debt-to-equity swap plan in the first three of five bondholder meetings, as the world's largest shipbuilder battles to stay afloat. The votes were held hours after Daewoo's biggest bondholder, the National Pension Service (NPS), said it had agreed to the proposal. That move made it likely other bondholders would follow suit, creditor bank officials said, allowing the shipbuilder to meet conditions of a $2.6 billion bank bailout. The shipbuilder has been pushed to the brink by the impact of historically low oil prices, which caused delays in payments for complex offshore facilities.

A South Korean court declared Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd bankrupt on Friday, after ruling earlier this month that the firm's liquidation value would be worth more than its value as a going concern. Hanjin Shipping, which had been the world's seventh-largest container shipper, applied for court receivership in late August after its creditor banks halted further support. The Seoul Central District Court said in a statement it has chosen a bankruptcy administrator, and claims by creditors are due by May 1, 2017. The first meeting of creditors will be held on June 1, 2017. "The court will, through the bankruptcy process, make efforts so the maximum of debt repayment will be conducted in a way that is fair and balanced to the creditors," it said. The court on Feb.

Korea Development Bank, the main creditor of the dissolved Hanjin Shipping Co. and state-owned entity, has put 10 Hanjin vessels up for sale in order to source back elements of its extended loans, reports Yonhap. According to the sources, potential buyers are required to submit their bids for the ships — two container ships and eight bulk carriers — by Feb. 21. Previously a South Korean court agreed to formally end Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd’s court receivership process after a two week appeal period, ending the business. Therefore any method of rehabilitation for the South Korean shipping company is now over, thus heralding liquidation.

The Seoul Central District Court Thursday decided to end the bankruptcy protection of Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd (Hanjin Shipping), leaving the company to succumb to a declaration of bankruptcy later this month, Yonhap reported. Hanjin, once the world's seventh- or eighth-largest container shipper, filed for court receivership in late August 2016 as its creditors, led by the state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB), said they would not provide additional financial support to Hanjin starting from September 4. “Now that the sale of Hanjin’s major assets is almost over, the time has come to declare its final fate,” WSJ quoted Choi Ung-young, a judge on the Seoul court as saying. Choi said the shipping line has hardly any value as a going concern and that the court will likely rule on Feb.

A South Korean court said on Thursday it decided to end Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd's court receivership process and expects to declare bankruptcy on February 17 after a two-week period for appeals.   The Seoul Central District Court said in a statement that it made the decision as the firm's liquidation value would be worth more than its value as a going concern.   Hanjin Shipping, which had been the world's seventh-largest container shipper, applied for court receivership in late August after its creditor banks halted further support.   Swiss shipping group MSC said on Wednesday its unit has bought a stake in Hanjin Shipping's U.S. port operator, the latest Hanjin asset to be sold.   Reporting by Joyce Lee

Bankrupt South Korean shipping line Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd won U.S. court approval at a hearing on Wednesday for the $78 million sale of its stake in U.S. terminal operator Total Terminals International LLC, overcoming objections of container companies.   "My decision is to approve the sale," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood said, adding he would approve the transfer of the sale's proceeds to South Korea.   The container companies are creditors of Hanjin and were concerned whether the shipping line was getting top dollar for its 54 percent stake in Total Terminals, which operates container terminals at the ports of Seattle and Long Beach, California, and was rushing to close the transaction. It has already been approved in South Korea.   Reporting by Jim Christie

US creditors of Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. objected to the Korean courier’s efforts to secure a New Jersey bankruptcy court approval of an asset sale to Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), reports WSJ. Geneva-based MSC, the world’s second largest container operator by capacity, has offered $78 million for container terminal in  Long Beach, Calif. A group of container companies and other creditors concerned that Chapter 15 debtor Hanjin rushed through a sale of equity interest in Total Terminals International LLC and Hanjin Shipping TEC Inc. earlier warned that Hanjin may not have fetched the best offers and may sidestep outstanding debts without closer scrutiny. According to the report, in court papers filed Friday with the U.S.

South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd  will sell part of its container ship business to Korea Line Corp for 37 billion Korean won ($31.38 million), reports Reuters.   Korea Line will buy Hanjin's Pacific routes shipping business, relevant client management information, units in seven countries including the United States, China and Vietnam, as well as assets and manpower related to logistics systems, Hanjin said in a regulatory filing.   Hanjin said the sale, which will be completed on Jan. 5, 2017, is to secure funds to pay off creditors.    Hanjin applied for court receivership in late August after banks denied further financial support for the troubled shipper.

CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping company, posted on Friday another net loss in the third quarter as freight rates remained weak and it integrated Singapore-based NOL, its biggest-ever acquisition. The sector was showing the "first signs of stabilisation" as operators adjusted capacity but freight rates remained historically low, CMA CGM said on Friday. The French-based company's net loss including NOL was $268 million, compared with a $51 million net profit in the third quarter of 2015. Excluding NOL, the net loss was $202 million.

Shares of U.S. shipping companies shot higher again on Wednesday, causing volatility halts in a number of stocks and raising questions among investors and analysts over the extent of their sharp post-election rally. The jump in share prices and unusually heavy trading volume even surprised analysts who follow the stocks, although some said the gains appeared to result in part from optimism that commodity demand would increase under President-elect Donald Trump. At the center of the rally has been DryShips Inc…

Taiwan's government said on Wednesday it will offer to lend struggling local shippers NT$60 billion ($1.9 billion) at below-market interest rates, to help them cope with the industry's worst downturn. "The global shipping industry is going through a tough time. These loans are part of the government's efforts to help local shippers," said Yeh Hsieh-lung, a deputy director general of Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC). Shippers with accumulated losses in the past four quarters will be qualified to apply for the loans, Yeh said. South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd filed for court receivership in August after losing the support of its banks, setting the stage for its assets to be frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels.

Evergreen Marine says has assured large U.S. customers, while Maersk Line says "strongly hopes" M&A will continue. Cargo owners are becoming more concerned about risks and are shifting their business to shipping lines deemed more financially stable after the collapse of South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, top shipping executives said. Robbert van Trooijen, Asia Pacific chief executive of AP Moeller-Maersk's container shipping arm, said the company was seeing a "flight to safe havens" after the August collapse of Hanjin left $14 billion of cargo stranded at sea. "We've seen that the debate around the viability of the supplier is a more important element in the contracting decision... A lot of customers are looking at the more stable shipping lines to contract their cargo with," he said.

The Japanese shipping operator Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) will book an ‘extraordinary’ loss totaling 195 billion Japanese yen (U.S. $1.89 billion) for the interim period of its current fiscal year, forced by a deep slump in the shipping market to write down the value of container ships and other assets. A report in CNBC says the huge writedown is the latest sign of a slowdown in the container shipping sector due to low freight rates and oversupply and comes after the collapse of South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd. “In view of a prolonged slump in the shipping market, NYK Line impaired the operational assets it owns and reduced the acquisition value of assets it plans to own to their recoverable amounts,” the company said.

South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd is selling major businesses, including its Asia-U.S. route network, and will receive letters of intent by October 28, the company said on Thursday. In a regulatory filing the company said a Seoul court overseeing its receivership process approved a public auction of the major businesses, and it is to get binding bids from interested parties by November 7, after a due diligence process. Reporting by Joyce Lee

Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd is in talks to sell its stake in the Long Beach Terminal in California to Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.(MSC), reports Reuters. The court overseeing Hanjin's receivership says the company is negotiating with MSC, it's partner in the terminal and which has first right of refusal. Hanjin Shipping owns a 54 percent stake in Total Terminals International LLC, which operates Long Beach Terminal in the U.S. MSC owns the remaining 46 percent. It has appointed an advisor, an overseas firm specializing in shipping industry talks, to help with the negotiations. Hanjin, the first major shipping line to be dragged down by global industry overcapacity and low freight rates…

Other container shipping firms may join Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd in receivership before the industry emerges from its current shakeout, the vice chairman of world number three player CMA CGM said on Wednesday. South Korea's Hanjin filed for protection from creditors in late August, stranding $14 billion in cargo and sending shockwaves through global trade networks. Outlining his predictions for the next three to five years for an industry struggling with overcapacity and sluggish demand, CMA CGM Vice Chairman Rodolphe Saade said consolidation was "the name of the game".

A container vessel that spent months sitting off Canada's west coast due to the collapse of a major South Korea shipping company is set to dock in Vancouver on Thursday, port and union officials said. The Hanjin Scarlet, with nearly 800 containers on board, has been sitting some 45 km (28 miles) outside of Prince Rupert for several months, said Peter Lahay, an inspector and coordinator with the International Transport Workers Federation. Emily Hamer, a spokeswoman at the Port of Vancouver, confirmed that the vessel would be arriving at the port. She referred questions about the ship's cargo to terminal operator DP World. Officials there could not immediately be reached for comment.

Japan's big three shippers will report earnings on Monday as yen strength threatens to widen annual loss estimates, in a sector shaken by shrinking demand and over capacity that has already sunk a major carrier. Nippon Yusen KK (NYK), Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd (MOL) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K-Line) - whose combined fleet of over 2,000 vessels includes tankers, dry-cargo carriers and container ships - will issue second-quarter results and updated full-year estimates that analysts say are currently too optimistic. The announcements will come just weeks after NYK said it would write down assets to the tune of 160 billion yen ($1.52 billion) in the July-September period.

Reuters report quoting South Korea government sources that the country is planning  to establish a state-backed ship financing company with an initial capital of 1 trillion won ($871.73 million) to help improve the financial health of Korean shipping companies. The government would provide financing of 6.5 trillion won ($5.67 billion) in total so that local shipping firms could acquire new vessels. New vessel orders won by South Korean shipbuilders between January-September fell by 87 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The government has announced measures to support struggling local shipbuilding and shipping industries following the collapse of Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, which applied for court receivership in August.

Danaos Corporation, one of the world's largest independent owners of containerships, today received notice that Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. (Hanjin) has filed for receivership with the Seoul Central District Court and requested that the court freeze its assets. Danaos currently charters eight of its vessels to Hanjin on long term, fixed rate time charters. The time charters associated with these vessels represent approximately $560 million of Danaos' $2.8 billion contracted revenue backlog as of June 30, 2016. The vessels contracted to Hanjin include three 10,100 TEU vessels built in 2011 and five 3,400 TEU vessels built in 2010 and 2011. "We are disappointed that the Korean Development Bank has failed to support an important participant in the global containership business," stated Dr.

Cargo owners are becoming more concerned about risks and are shifting their business to shipping lines deemed more financially stable after the collapse of South Korea's Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, Reuters reported quoting top shipping executives. Robbert van Trooijen, Asia Pacific chief executive of AP Moeller-Maersk's container shipping arm, said the company was seeing a "flight to safe havens" after the August collapse of Hanjin left $14 billion of cargo stranded at sea. Maersk's comments were echoed by Taiwanese rival Evergreen Marine Corp which also told Reuters last week it had recently provided relevant information to large U.S. companies to assure them of its financial health. "They are making additional efforts to check shipping firms' financial status.