A monthlong logistics disturbance after the fall of
what was once the nation’s largest shipping line, Hanjin Shipping, has resulted
in a sharp increase in shipping rates and a slump in vessel charter rates.
The situation has eased compared to the chaotic few
days right after the company was placed under court receivership on Sept. 1,
but the disturbance is still ongoing and affecting the global shipping market.
As of Sunday, 41 out of Hanjin’s 97 container ships
and three out of 44 bulk ships are still out at sea and stuck in ports with
loaded cargo. The halt in operations of these vessels led to soaring shipping
costs. Based on 40-foot containers, the shipping cost on routes between Asia
and the American West Coast rose to $1,730, according to the Korea Shipowners’
Association, a 50 percent increase from the end of August.
Adding to the fallout, as ships once operated by
Hanjin are released into the market for lease and sale, the charter rates and
secondhand sales prices are nosediving. Hanjin Versailles and Hanjin Santos,
both ships that Hanjin chartered out from Greek shipowner Danaos Corporation,
used to cost an average $20,000 to charter each day. The average daily charter
rate has dropped to $6,000 after Danaos took the ships back from Hanjin and
re-chartered them for four to six months to other shipping companies.
The used-vessels market is also seeing prices fall.
Some shipping companies are choosing to get rid of their ships instead of
reselling them as the resale price has fallen more than 50 percent compared to
the beginning of this year. In fact, Swiss shipping company MSC decided to
scrap its Viktoria Wulff container ship with 4,546 twenty-foot equivalent unit
(TEU) capacity last month. Some shippers from Greece and Germany have
reportedly sold their ships to ship-breaking yards.
According to global shipping market intelligence
company Clarksons Research, the shipbreaking volume this year is expected to
set a record of 514,000 TEU. The record so far has been 440,000 TEU in 2013.
The ship-breaking cost, however, is also rising. While the cost to break ships
was in the $200 per ton range early this year, it surpassed $300 per ton last
month, the JoongAng Ilbo reported.
During the course, Hanjin has seen itself lose the
title of world’s seventh-largest and the nation’s largest shipping company,
according to data accumulated by shipping industry statistics provider
Alphaliner as of Monday. The container ship capacity of Hanjin Shipping fell
from 623,910 TEU in September to 427,833 TEU in a month, which puts the shipper
at the world’s 14th. Hanjin’s fall has granted the other nation’s shipping
line, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), which possesses 451,784 TEU shipping
capacity, a step up to the world’s 13th largest. HMM has nabbed the title of
the “nation’s largest” at the same time.
In the meantime, to make up for the sinking company’s
halted business operations, giant shipping lines have jumped in to increase
their market share.
The world’s No. 1, Maersk Line, and second-ranked MSC
established a joint shipping route in Busan and deployed new ships. The world’s
fourth largest, Cosco Container Lines, also added new ships to Busan and No. 8
Yang Ming of Taiwan adjusted its trans-America routes so that ships can lay
over at the Port of Busan.
There has been speculation that Maersk Line may buy
out either of the troubled Korean shipping lines. Maersk Chairman Michael Pram
Rasmussen said in an interview with Bloomberg that the company plans to grow
through active mergers and acquisitions. However, the Wall Street Journal on
Tuesday reported that the option is unlikely.
“Buying Hanjin or HMM are rumors invented out of thin
air,” a person knowledgeable on the matter was quoted as saying by the paper.
An official from Korea Development Bank, the main
creditor of both shipping companies, said, “We have no intention to sell HMM’s
assets to Maersk. As for Hanjin Shipping’s assets, we are preparing measures
for acquisition through HMM.”
Hanjin Shipping is obliged to submit a turnaround
plan to the Seoul bankruptcy court by Dec. 23. Ahead of the submission, Samil
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the accounting firm in charge of evaluating Hanjin
Shipping’s value, will first hand in their report of assessment by Nov. 4.
The court will make the final decision on the
company’s future by mid-November based on submitted data.
BY MOON HEE-CHUL, HAN AE-RAN
[kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]
Source: korea joongang daily. 5 October 2016
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