A U.S. judge said Hanjin Shipping Co.’s creditors can foreclose on the South Korean company’s shipping containers and sell them, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Bankruptcy Judge John K. Sherwood of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J., on Friday gave the green light to Maher Terminals LLC, which runs one of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s marine terminals, to foreclose on the container assets and sell them to pay off claims owed by Hanjin. In February, a Seoul court declared Hanjin would have to liquidate its assets — including its ships, stakes in seaport terminals and containers — marking the final chapter in its bankruptcy process and one of the ocean-shipping industry’s largest collapses ever. Maher and other creditors in late February asked the court for permission to sell the Hanjin containers taking up space on their docks, court papers show. Maher can foreclose on the 256 Hanjin containers stored at its facility, and has the right to use the proceeds to pay down their post-bankruptcy storage charges still owed to Maher by Hanjin, court papers show.
