Government offer attracts container carriers

A Korean government offer to provide assistance to its shipping lines has attracted interest from the nation's container carriers.
The plan requires state-owned Korea Asset Management Company (Kamco) to spend up to KRW4 trillion (US$3.1 billion) of public funds to acquire shipping assets on sale-and-lease-back deals, including containerships, reports AXS Alphaliner.
The plan, said the Paris-based agency, is intended to avoid distress sales to foreign buyers and to help improve the cash flow of Korean carriers hard hit by the economic downturn, particularly, as a number of Korean shipowners have already declared insolvency in recent months, including bulk carrier companies Samsum Logix, Park Road and Daewoo Logistics.
It is believed that 70 ships are to be acquired by Kamco, including numerous containerships 15 years old or younger.
Hanjin Shipping is planning to offer 16 containerships for sale to Kamco, the report said, while Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and STX Pan Ocean are reported to be planning to sell eight ships and six ships respectively.

Source: Transport Weekly