Seaspan: Past due accounts receivable from Hanjin grow

The containership charterer said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday that past due accounts receivable from South Korean ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping had grown to approximately $18.6 million.    The containership charterer Seaspan said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday that past due accounts receivable from South Korean ocean carrier Hanjin Shipping had grown to approximately $18.6 million, up from $11.6 million on June 30.
   The comments were contained in a prospectus related to Seaspan’s sale of 3.2 million shares of preferred stock to raise $80 million, $77.6 million after underwriting discounts and commissions.
   Hanjin charters three 10,000-TEU ships from Seaspan and four similar size ships from Greater China Intermodal Investments (GCI), an investment partnership Seaspan established with the Carlyle Group and other investors. Seaspan has overseen the construction of most of GCI’s vessels and manages its operating fleet.
   The carrier has asked Seaspan and other owners of containerships for a reduction in existing charter rates for a period of three and one half years, in exchange for securities in a restructured Hanjin.
   Seaspan says it has rejected this request, but a report on the Pulse website of the Korean Maeil Business Newspaper quoted an unnamed senior official at Hanjin as saying talks with Seaspan have “made progress after it agreed to an alternative plan of providing other support aside from reducing chartering fees.” The paper also quoted an unnamed “creditor official” as saying Hanjin “is expected to sign a memorandum of understanding soon with its ship owners over vessel lease fees.”