[THE INVESTOR] South Korea‘s Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has urged ministries to push ahead with contingency plans to unsnarl the chaos in the logistics industry after the country’s largest ocean container shipper Hanjin Shipping filed for court receivership last week.

“Related ministries including the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries should immediately take emergency transportation measures such as sending container ships to replace seized vessels to minimize disruption on trading companies,” he said during a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 6.

After the firm slid into bankruptcy proceedings, vessels of the world’s seventh-largest container carrier have been stranded at sea and ports which hurt supplies of retailers ahead of the holiday season.

“We’ve got to make sure that the crisis does not spread to the overall economy by preparing support measures for related firms,” Hwang said.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)