Idan Ofer’s Eastern Pacific Shipping has taken the first legal swipe at Hanjin Shipping in the US since the South Korean operator filed for receivership.

A shipowning affiliate of Singapore-based Eastern Pacific lodged the lawsuit in a federal court in Los Angeles alleging that the liner operator started missing payments of on a containership charter in June.

Hastay Marine, the registered owner of the 3,670-teu Hanjin New Jersey (built 2013), is seeking to seize Hanjin assets in California to recover allegedly unpaid hire. The