Dive Brief:
- Hanjin Shipping is now facing claims from terminal operators and stevedores for lack of payment. Approximately $189 million is owed them, or about 23% of total claims against Hanjin, the Journal of Commerce reported Thursday.
- Roughly 3,000 creditors are making claims of over $800 million against the company, with North American terminal operators accounting for 42% percent, or $32 million, within their category.
- Other terminal operators and stevedores across the globe are also filing claims, with European operators making up 19% of claimants within the field, while their Asian counterparts are seeking payment of approximately $25 million.
Dive Insight:
Hanjin's bankruptcy has had many repercussions throughout the supply chain — so many Xeneta even created a term, the "Hanjin Effect," to denote increased freight prices — but perhaps the most important is a wide public realization of just how interconnected the supply chain is.
As the months have passed since the shipping line filed for receivership in South Korea, we have seen port terminals, chassis operators, trucking companies, other shipping lines and numerous shippers suffer direct damages from the event.
The bankruptcy has even caused shippers to demand more financial transparency from their carriers and banks to tighten their expectations, potentially leading to a few other bankruptcies reaching as far as a commercial property business in New Jersey, which leased Hanjin's headquarters.
Perhaps the lessons reflect mostly the cost of a bankruptcy and the importance of financial risk management, but the supply chain effects are indisputable.
