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Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance

Briefings

Industry insight: Hanjin collapse washes up on Australian shores

31 October 2016

Hanjin is the latest casualty of the slump in freight rates and oversupply of tonnage. The company was placed into receivership by a Seoul court on 1 September 2016. Hanjin collapsed with debts totalling over USD5 billion. At the time of the collapse, Hanjin had 97 container ships, of which 60 were chartered by the company and 37 were owned by Hanjin. It was South Korea's largest container company.


The South Korean court handling Hanjin's insolvency proceedings has announced plans to dispose of Hanjin's subsidiaries involved in handling Asia-US cargo, along with staff, vessels and 10 overseas operations. The Seoul court is fielding interest from potential buyers; bidders are required to submit proposals by 4 November 2016. It is not yet known if any companies have shown any interest in the assets. The sales plan comes as creditors continue to prepare claims for recovery of debts owed by the collapsed company.

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