Hanjin Shipping Co. is working on a restructuring plan that calls for the drastic reduction of its fleet and re-delivery of the vast majority of its vessels under time charter to their owners. Despite the efforts the container line giant (7th in the world) is expected not to avoid liquidation. Hanjin has filed for bankruptcy protection last month and the South Korean government still denies to foot the bill. Major shareholder Korean Development Bank has not yet agreed to finance the restructuring plan and bail out the company and owners are afraid that mother company announced resources are only sufficient for safe cargo delivery already on board the Hanjin container vessels etc..

Fears arise that this may have a domino effect since a lot of owners like DANAOS are heavily exposed (estimated 560 USD million exposure) and that in the end Hanjin will emerge as a regional only operator in Asia.