South Korea’s bulk carrier Korea Line Corp., owned by Samra Midas (SM) Group, acquired the Asia-U.S. operation of bankrupt Hanjin Shipping that had been the world’s seventh-largest container carrier and country’s largest shipping company before filing for court receivership in August, the company said in its press release.
According to industry sources, Hanjin Shipping signed a contract to sell its Asia-U.S. operation at 37 billion won ($31.45 million) to Korea Line Corp. Monday. The Seoul bankruptcy court handling reorganization of Hanjin Shipping endorsed the deal on Tuesday.
Korea Line has the option to buy Long Beach Terminal in California and five 6,500-TEU container vessels (1TEU is equal to the space occupied by a standard 20-feet container) from Hanjin Shipping.
But the shipping industry doubts the mid-tier liner can come up with funds to pay for an international terminal and a fleet over a short period.
Under the agreed terms, Korea Line rehires Hanjin Shipping’s 293-strong ground workforce as well as 281 overseas staff on the shipping route. It does not have to take up sailors since there are no containerships left on the trade route.
At 11:10 a.m., shares of Korea Line were at 17,650 won, up 2.62 percent or 450 won from the previous session.