[THE INVESTOR] Concerns grew Thursday that the Hanjin Shipping crisis may affect new ship orders from foreign shipowners, possibly dealing another blow to ailing Korean shipbuilders. 

Greek container shipowner Danaos has made a long-term contract with Hanjin Shipping to lend it eight container ships.

Danaos has been one of the major clients for Korean companies.
 
According to Clarksons, a British provider of shipping services, 48 out of Danaos’s 58 ships were built by Korean companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries.



Of Danaos’ total sales last year, 17 percent were drawn from Hanjin Shipping.

The near-bankrupt company is slated to pay charter fees of $560 million to the Greek firm, but uncertainty remains over the full payment.

“We are disappointed that the Korea Development Bank has failed to support an important participant in the global container ship business,” Danaos CEO John Coustas was quoted as saying, adding his company has actively supported the Korean shipper’s restructuring.

Canadian shipowner Seaspan has also lent three container ships for 10 years with charterage of $363 million to Hanjin Shipping, according to the company’s data submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Seaspan has been an important client for Korean shipbuilders, as 58 out of 113 ships were built by Korean shipbuilders.

As of last month, Hanjin Shipping has overdue charter fees of $18.6 million.

Another Greek company, Navios, which has provided three bulk ships to Hanjin Shipping, also owns a number of ships constructed in Korea.

“Although the immediate impact to shipbuilders is unlikely, the new orders will inevitably be affected once the damage to shipowners widen,” said a source from the local shipbuilding industry.

In order to ensure the charterage payment, the foreign shipowners may look for new chartering firms. This, however, cannot guarantee high charter fees as the market price has changed.

Unlike Hanjin’s contract with Seaspan to pay a daily charter fee of $43,000 for one ship, the current average charter fee for a ship has dropped to around $25,000.

Major Korean heavy industries have seen operating losses in the first half of this year.

Samsung Heavy Industries recorded an operating loss of 277 billion won ($253 million), due mainly to one-time labor restructuring that cost about 210 billion won.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering saw the worst operating loss of 445 million won in the first half.

Hyundai Heavy Industries, on the other hand, has seen operating profit of 882 billion won in the first half of this year, with the non-shipbuilding sector drawing stable profits, the company said.

By Lee Hyun-jeong/The Korea Herald (rene@heraldcorp.com)