South Korea-based Hanjin Shipping, one
of the world's largest container mover and shipping companies, received a lifeline this week, as the company looms closer toward
bankruptcy.
Korea Development Bank offered the shipping company a conditional credit line of approximately 50 billion won ($45 million) to
help ease supply-chain disruptions, Bloomberg
said.
A prior Bloomberg
report suggested that Hanjin's collapse "left an estimated $14 billion worth of goods adrift."
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A U.S. trade group said earlier this week that Hanjin's collapse has already caused "widespread disruptions in freight shipments
worldwide." The group is also urging the U.S. Commerce Department to work with the South Korean government to put an end to the
crisis.
However, the loan will only be extended if funds previously pledged by Hanjin's largest shareholder, Korean Air Lines, the
company's chairman Cho Yang Ho and a former chairwomen prove to be insufficient to unload cargo from its standard vessels.
By some estimates, Hanjin Shipping needs at least 600 billion won to cover its unpaid expenses including fuel and cargo
handling. And retailers across the world have reason to be worried since their cargo could be unattended.
According to Bloomberg, companies such as Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) are affected by the shipping company's woes.
"As long as the ships are not unloaded, it's adding up the bills for Hanjin. The longer this goes on, it's going to get
messier," Rahul Kapoor, a director at Drewry Financial Research Services told Bloomberg.
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