Measuring the Human Toll Taken By Hanjin’s Insolvency

While there have been reports that Korean Air Lines has pledged 60 billion won (U.S. $54.6 million) to help pay for the discharge of cargo that is still stranded on Hanjin’s ships, there are also rumors that as many as 800 Hanjin employees will lose their front office jobs.

The human toll of the financial catastrophe is much worse for the seafarers still held hostage by the company, however.

The issue was revealed at the Port of Seattle when the chartered vessel Hanjin Marine was visited by International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) inspector Jeff Engels.

The ship had been waiting at sea for three weeks before a berth was found at the port. Once the vessel had finally arrived, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were refusing the crew shore leave.

Meanwhile, three Hanjin vessels that called in Southern California all had similar issues with shore leave.

“This is morally and legally unacceptable,” says the ITF. “These are professional seafarers, working in a professional manner, carrying out all their tasks responsibly, and hoping that the situation with Hanjin will be rectified without the loss of jobs. Denying them an escape from their work environment is an abuse of humanity. The CBP needs to reconsider and fix this problem now.”

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