Officials said the collapse of South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co., which declared bankruptcy Wednesday, threatened local union workers’ jobs and merchants’ access to goods at a crucial time, just before the holiday season. Because Hanjin, the world’s seventh-largest shipping line, cannot pay ports and terminals to unload, ships filled with merchandise have sat idle for days. As of Sunday, officials said one massive container ship was still drifting 50 miles south of the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports; another ship was anchored at the Port of Long Beach, inside the breakwater; a third was anchored outside the harbor. Hanjin and other large shipping lines have struggled with overcapacity brought on by a massive ship-building boom and sluggish demand. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners said in a statement Sunday that members were monitoring the Hanjin situation “round the clock” to ensure that the flow of cargo is as smooth as possible.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 05, 2016 04:24 UTC