NEAR bankrupt Hanjin Shipping will return 20 containerships and 18 bulk carriers when their charters expire in an effort to cut costs and restructure company debt, reports American Shipper.
Hanjin to return 20 box carriers and 18 bulkers when charters expire NEAR bankrupt Hanjin Shipping will return 20 containerships and 18 bulk carriers when their charters expire in an effort to cut costs and restructure company debt, reports American Shipper. The struggling shipping line has been renegotiating charter rates with shipowners, but has been unsuccessful and now intends to return the ships it operates. Hong Kong's Gerry Wang, CEO of containership lessor Seaspan, has said the South Korean government needs to do more to help Hanjin recover after he refused to cut charter rates. "We do not accept any rate cut," Mr Wang told Bloomberg. "We have never done it. We won't tolerate a contract re-negotiation. Any call for rate cut is illegal by international laws." Mr Wang said he would rather cancel the charters for the seven 10,010-TEU ships currently contracted to Hanjin through 2024 and 2025 and take back the vessels than accept any rate cut. Those contracts run for 10 years on fixed rates of $43,000 per day. Hanjin operates 47 chartered containerships and is still in negotiations with other owners in an attempt to reduce fees by around 30 per cent as required by its primary creditor, state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB), as part of the company's financial restructuring.