A judge has ruled that once Hanjin has completed the unloading process of its cargo, it must cancel its charter agreements and return chartered ships back to their original owners, according to Reuters.
An unnamed Hanjin Spokeswoman has said that the carrier has returned four containerships to shipowners, with a further notification received from shipowners to 13 more ships.
PTI previously reported that Hanjin was to begin the sale of its assets, with three of its containerships already sold and others currently up for purchase.
This follows news that a judge had loaned US$10 million to Hanjin for payments to be used for docking and unloading ships.
Together with this news came the announcement made by Hanjin that it was looking to secure global ship protection in order to prevent more than 100 ships from being seized at sea.
Now that the carrier has filed for court receivership, there is concern as to what will happen to the existing services that were currently operated by Hanjin.
A new ‘Mini Alliance’ is to be set up by Hyundai Merchant Marine in a bid to replace Hanjin’s existing services, which will be set up in collaboration with three other carriers.
