Hanjin to return all chartered in vessels

Already reeling from the impact of overcapacity in the containership market the news that a South Korean judge said Hanjin will cancel all its chartered-in vessels to owners will be very unwelcome indeed.

Charterers are already out of pocket on unpaid bills – Seaspan Corp which played hard ball with Hanjin in rate cut discussions before the Korean line filed for receivership – had $11.6m outstanding on 30 June on three vessels.

Meanwhile US-listed Danaos Corp has revealed a $560m exposure to Hanjin with three 10,100 teu vessels built in 2011 and five 3,400 teu vessels built in 2010 and 2011.

“The high charter rates obtained on long term fixtures concluded with Hanjin before the 2008 financial crisis, and during the short term recovery of 2010-2011, will be impossible to match in today’s de- pressed market, but acceptable figures might still be achievable for the most sought after units while LCS (large containerships) and classic panamax units will face rock-bottom charter rates,” Alphaliner commented in a report last week.

Read all the background to the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy on our timeline