South Korean Cargo Ships Stranded Near Port Of Long Beach
LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A bankruptcy filing by one of the world's largest shipping lines has left a few of the company's cargo ships stranded at sea off the Southern California coast.
Two large Hanjin Shipping Co. vessels are being held near the San Pedro Bay port complex, while a third ship was expected to anchor Thursday at the Port of Long Beach, officials told the Los Angeles Times.
A fourth ship, the Hanjin Constanza, is being leased by another shipping line and is headed into the Los Angeles port, according to Capt. J. Kip
Louttit, executive director of the Marine Exchange of Southern California.
Hanjin - which according to The Times is also a majority owner of the Port of Long Beach's largest terminal - filed for court receivership Thursday in South Korea.
Hanjin ships operate primarily on their side of the twin L.A./Long Beach ports complex, where it owns 54 percent of one of the port's biggest terminals, Total Terminals International, according to Long Beach port spokesman Michael Gold.
For now, Gold said, the standstill in Hanjin shipping operations is "not having a significant impact on port operations."
South Korean officials reportedly estimated as much as a two- to three-month delay in the shipping of some Korean goods scheduled for transport by Hanjin, including some from LG Electronics, the world's second-largest TV manufacturer.
Some analysts say the delay could ultimately slow the supply chain for TVs and other goods as the run-up to the holiday season gets underway, according to Bloomberg.
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