Maersk biggest operator of former Hanjin ships, but two-thirds of fleet remains idle

Of Hanjin’s fleet of 98 containerships, with a capacity of around 610,000 teu when it filed for receivership on 31 August last year 31 ships have been redeployed by other lines, four have been scrapped, and 63 remain inactive Drewry said in its weekly container report.

“Maersk Line has shown the biggest appetite for the former Hanjin fleet by chartering 11 vessels of 77,000 teu, the largest being two 13,000 teu units,” the report said. Other operators of former Hanjin tonnage include Yang Ming, Pacific International Lines, CMA CGM, X-Press Feeders and KMTC.

However, some 63 vessels with 440,000 teu of capacity remain idle from the former Hanjin fleet.

Drewry expects eight vessels to come into service fairly quickly with newly founded SM Lines acquiring five 6,655 teu former Hanjin ships for $23m to be deployed on its planned transpacific services and KMTC buying four 4,275 teu units for $21.2m, of which it has only so far deployed one vessel. Seaspan Corp is also paying $21m for four 4,275 teu vessels which are yet to be chartered out.

“Accounting for the less than transparent ownership details, we estimate that there remains up to as much as 150,000 teu of Hanjin-owned ships that is still for sale. With such a glut of containerships already available and limited demand growth it is debatable just how big a market they can attract even at knock-down prices,” the report commented.

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