A US judge ordered Hanjin Shipping to refrain from sailing its vessels away from the US as he sorts out claims by creditors asserting rights to arrest vessels.

US Bankruptcy Judge John Sherwood of the US federal court in Newark, New Jersey, issued the order during a Tuesday hearing to consider the South Korean operator’s Chapter 15 bankruptcy filing.

Lawyers estimate that there are some 15 Hanjin-owned and chartered containerships lingering off the US coast, some outside of range of the federal marshals that carry out vessel arrest orders.