A bankruptcy judge on Friday expressed concern that Hanjin Shipping Co.’s efforts to cobble together a restructuring plan may be moving too quickly for U.S. creditors, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. The South Korean shipping company hopes to file a plan of reorganization with a Korean court by Dec. 23, court papers show, about four months after it sought protection there and in the U.S. “It’s very condensed,” Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood said on Friday at a status hearing in the company’s U.S. bankruptcy proceeding. “I’m just concerned that U.S. creditors will be asleep at the wheel, because it’s a fast process.” Once Hanjin’s restructuring plan is on file, it will then be up to the South Korean court to decide whether to accept the plan or to let the company go under. Read more. (Subscription required.)
In related news, failed South Korean container carrier Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. said on Friday that cargo owners were withholding up to $80 million in payments for completed shipments, complicating the company's ability to move stranded freight, Reuters reported. Hanjin lawyers said that many cargo owners had received their goods on credit but have yet to pay the shipping company. An attorney for Ashley Furniture Industries, a Wisconsin-based furniture maker, told Friday's hearing the company anticipated that costs related to Hanjin's failure would eventually exceed what it owed for past shipments. Like many retailers and other cargo owners, Ashley has been stuck paying to get its cargo from the dockside, even though Hanjin had been paid to deliver it to an inland destination. In addition, many retailers and other cargo owners have complained they have been stuck with empty Hanjin containers that ports have been unwilling to take back. Read more.
