California Apparel News

With some 6,000 Hanjin-leased cargo containers sitting empty in the wake of the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy, the result is that some 6,000 chassis attached to the containers are not circulating throughout the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and stalling pickup times and deliveries.

But a cargo container vessel—the Express Athens, owned by Emirates Shipping—was scheduled to arrive Nov. 10 from Pusan, South Korea, at the Port of Long Beach’s Total Terminals International terminal to collect some 4,300 empty cargo containers that were leased by Hanjin but have been parked in various spots around Southern California and the ports.

“The Port of Long Beach recognized the urgency to alleviate the shortage created by the estimated 6,000 Hanjin-leased containers sitting on chassis, which are needed throughout Southern California to move goods in and out of the region,” said Lori Ann Guzmán, president of the port’s Board of Harbor Commissioners. “The Port of Long Beach has been working with TTI and other supply-chain partners to find creative solutions to solve the chassis shortage.”

Long Beach and TTI worked together to secure an empty vessel to reposition the containers and send the empty containers back to Asia and bring significant relief to the inventory of chassis, which are the truck trailers onto which containers are mounted, said Noel Hacegaba, managing director of commercial operations and chief commercial officer for the Port of Long Beach.

The benefit will be felt throughout the region immediately. “TTI has already begun accepting empty Hanjin containers from container-leasing companies, freeing up every chassis that drops off a container,” Hacegaba said. “We expect that as many as 3,000 containers will literally be taken off the street and shipped back to Asia, with another 1,300 being removed from the port, putting thousands of chassis back to work.”

TTI is loading the ship at cost while the Port of Long Beach will waive its fee for access to the port’s terminal. “We feel this is a fair and necessary accommodation to keep goods moving through the ports in Southern California and to ensure our customers are able to remove their containers,” Hacegaba said.

TTI Long Beach will be receiving specific Hanjin-leased empty containers authorized by the following leasing companies: Triton, Textainer, Seacube and Florens. Delivery instructions can be found at www.ttilgb.com.

Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy in South Korea on Aug. 31, when 97 Hanjin cargo containers were on the sea with shipments. Many of those ships anchored outside ports around the world waiting for funds to pay for their docking. Some of the vessels were seized to pay off debts to the Panama Canal. The delay in delivering merchandise is still affecting importers waiting for their goods.