So many empty Hanjin Shipping cargo containers have piled up at Southern California ports since Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection a little over two months ago that an entire containership is being enlisted to clean up the mess.
The Port of Long Beach and terminal operator Total Terminals International said Nov. 3 that they’ve reached an agreement to help clear the significant backlog of empty cargo containers from Southern California and free up the chassis they sit on.
As part of the agreement, a container ship is being brought in to remove up to 4,300 empty containers.
Hanjin Shipping filed for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 31, resulting in a significant buildup of empty containers across Southern California, tying up the chassis they rest on. To alleviate the problem, Long Beach and TTI have worked together to secure an empty vessel to reposition the containers, a solution that will help move empty containers back to Asia and bring significant relief to the inventory of the truck trailers onto which containers are mounted, explained Dr. Noel Hacegaba, the Port of Long Beach’s Managing Director of Commercial Operations and Chief Commercial Officer.
The empty container ship is expected to arrive in Long Beach within the coming week.
“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 said it will receive specific Hanjin-leased empty containers authorized by four leasing companies: Triton, Textainer, Seacube and Florens. Delivery instructions can be found at www.ttilgb.com.
