Hanjin

The flurry of buyouts and consolidation in the ocean cargo arena has shippers scrambling to book space and reconfigure supply chains this season. Meanwhile, logistics managers must make sense of new rumors that yet another major player may be for sale.

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) recently discussed two matters of interest to each of the five Commissioners and the broader shipping public: ongoing developments related to the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy, and a third party review of the southern California-based PierPass program.

The letter explained that with U.S. businesses relying on supply chain predictability during the busiest time of year, Hanjin’s bankruptcy filing has caused widespread disruption in freight shipments worldwide.

Logistics Management Group News Editor Jeff Berman recently spoke with Joe Dunlap, Managing Director of Supply Chain Services for industrial real estate firm CBRE and Melina Cordero, Head of Retail Research in the Americas, for CBRE about the Hanjin bankruptcy.

For many maritime and trade analysts, Hanjin Shipping’s receivership and bankruptcy filing suddenly exposed how fragile the world of shipping alliances and just-in-time supply chain management these days.

The Federal Maritime Commission has established a protocol for communicating requests for assistance to the agency concerning developments related to the status of Hanjin Shipping.

With Korean ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping, the seventh largest ocean liner in the world that handles roughly 7% of U.S.-Asia cargo, filing for bankruptcy earlier this week, what happens next in regards to what happens to the cargo that was moving on Hanjin vessels at that time, as well as its subsequent short-term impact on the global supply chain remains far from clear.