Hanjin Vessel Sitting Off Canada for Months Set to Dock in Vancouver

REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

By Catherine Ngai

VANCOUVER, Oct 27 (Reuters) – A container vessel that spent months sitting off Canada’s west coast due to the collapse of a major South Korea shipping company is set to dock in Vancouver on Thursday, port and union officials said.

The Hanjin Scarlet, with nearly 800 containers on board, has been sitting some 45 km (28 miles) outside of Prince Rupert for several months, said Peter Lahay, an inspector and coordinator with the International Transport Workers Federation.

Emily Hamer, a spokeswoman at the Port of Vancouver, confirmed that the vessel would be arriving at the port. She referred questions about the ship’s cargo to terminal operator DP World. Officials there could not immediately be reached for comment.

South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd filed for court receivership at the end of August, which set the stage for its assets to be frozen as ports from China to Spain denied access to its vessels.

Prince Rupert Port Authority spokesman Michael Gurney said that the Hanjin Scarlet arrived into the port on Aug. 30 and discharged some containers at one of its terminals. It then remained under arrest and at anchor in the outer harbor for nearly two months.

The ship, which has 24 crew members, will unload cargo on board, Lahay said. He added that crew members had less than 10 days worth of food and provisions left, and had run out of fresh food. (Reporting by Catherine Ngai; Editing by Frances Kerry)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.

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