Several organisations, among them a cargo insurance company, logistics companies and retailers such as Walmart have sought to protect their right to make claims against Hanjin Shipping, reported Asean Lines.
If a US court decides to recognise the bankruptcy proceedings filed by Hanjin Shipping in South Korea, it could jeopardise the ability of the American firms to claim back lost earnings as a result of Hanjin’s collapse. In the case of Walmart, this meant the delay, for several weeks, of much of the cargo being carried aboard Hanjin’s stranded vessels, destined for store shelves across the US.
The bankruptcy left more than 90 vessels stranded, and more than 500,000 containers stranded around the world, many of which have been lying empty clogging up ports until a resolution can be found to remove them.
To head off the possibility of losing their right to claim these losses from Hanjin, several companies have filed a case in New Jersey aimed at protecting this right, should the US recognise the South Korean court’s bankruptcy provisions.
These are not the first to file similar claims against Hanjin and are unlikely to be the last, as the web of Hanjin’s global shipping operations are slowly untangled following its demise in August 2016.
