The bankruptcy of the South Korean shipping company caused a lot of logistic problems among Dutch importers and exporters. Last month almost 90 Hanjin ships were still out at sea. On board were half a million sea containers. The value of the goods on board was estimated at 14 billion dollars. Thanks to emergency credit, these ships were able to enter a port to be unloaded.
EVO and Fenedex investigated the problems that caused the bankruptcy among connected companies. There was also a lack of clarity for Dutch companies regarding the location of the goods, a press report from the organisation shows. "Some ships were floating around with perishables such as milk products on board, an important Dutch export product. Many companies are speaking of double logistic costs due to delays and the input of other transport methods, such as airfreight. An electronics company had to send the same shipment again by airfreight to prevent empty shelves in stores. Building projects have also been paused, as essential parts that couldn't be flown in again, were still at sea. Finally, there are still trading and production companies that can't access their shipments, as the containers are still at the terminals."
A restart is still being sought for the Asian branch of the shipping company, but the doors of the European location are definitively closing. This means that the sixty employees of the office in Rotterdam will lose their jobs.
