Asia/Pacific News
Hanjin Granted Leave to Withdraw Singapore Court Proceedings
Ince & Co says Singapore's Supreme Court, at a case management conference on January 6, approved an application submitted by Suk Tai Soo, the foreign representative for Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd (Hanjin), granting leave to withdraw its proceedings in the court for the recognition of shipping's rehabilitation proceedings in Korea.
Further, the Supreme Court is noted to have discharged an interim stay order, which was previously granted on September 9, 2016 and was operative until January 25, 2017, restraining all pending, contingent or fresh suits, actions or proceedings against Hanjin and the company's wholly-owned Singapore subsidiaries, as well as any enforcement or execution against Hanjin's Singapore assets, except the arrested vessel Hanjin Rome.
"This development is perhaps unsurprising as it comes just a fortnight after Hanjin Shipping was reported to have informed a New Jersey bankruptcy court in December 2016 that its liabilities in the US are far greater than its assets there," said Ince & Co.
With the interim order now discharged, parties with claims against Hanjin, who have not approved, consented to, or are bound by any compromise of their claims against the company, are no longer precluded from prosecuting or enforcing their claims against any remaining assets of Hanjin or its Singapore subsidiaries within Singapore courts.
As Ship & Bunker previously reported, Hanjin - South Korea's biggest shipping firm and the world's seventh largest box carrier at the time - filed for court receivership in August, paving the way for what would be by far the biggest ever container shipping failure.
