Authorities and business associations met in HCMC last week to find ways for local exporters and importers to get back their containerized goods currently stranded on board ships of Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd that had filed for bankruptcy protection.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said member enterprises of the association have more than 150 containers of frozen products, mostly bound for the U.S., on board Hanjin ships at sea but they are uncertain about the fate of these shipments.

Hoe told the meeting last Friday that management agencies should tell the South Korean firm to provide goods owners with updates and help them find the way out to minimize losses.

Bui Thi Lien Thuy from Hai Bang trade and forwarding service firm said when Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd filed for bankruptcy protection, the company requested Hanjin to have its cargo unloaded at a port in Singapore and asked another container ship to transport its cargo to the destination with US$3,000 charged for a container as it could have to deal with cargo losses and fines imposed by importers for late deliveries.

Some firms said a Hanjin Chennai transporting with 733 containers of cargo was scheduled to arrive and dock at a port in HCMC on September 2 but is drifting off the coast of Vung Tau City for fear of being seized if it docks in HCMC.

At the meeting, cargo owners, forwarding firms and port operators called on the Import and Export Department at the trade ministry and the Vietnam Maritime Administration under the transport ministry to identify debts of Hanjin and temporarily seize assets of the shipping company in Vietnam to force it to bring ships to ports for enterprises to take off their cargo.

Nguyen Dinh Viet, deputy head of the Vietnam Maritime Administration, told the meeting that Hanjin ships should be held as ordered by a South Korean court and in line with international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory. 

In the initial time, the administration will propose the transport ministry ask the Government to establish a working group to deal with issues relating to Hanjin Shipping. The agency said ports can consider allowing Hanjin vessels to call at local ports so that enterprises could have their goods unloaded.

Viet called for Vietnamese companies to actively seek solutions to deal with their cargo on Hanjin ships at ports outside Vietnam to reduce losses. Transport and forwarding firms, and relevant associations should try to get updates on their cargo on Hanjin ships and coping measures of other countries for the shipping firm.

The world’s seventh-largest container carrier filed for bankruptcy protection in August, stranding US$14 billion worth of cargo at sea as the firm lacked cash to settle payments for cargo handlers, tug operators or ports. Reuters reported that the government of South Korea said on Friday that enough money had been pledged to unload Hanjin ships by the end of October.

SGT