The shipping sector’s precarious financial footing — that obstinate elephant in the room — has been thrown into sharp relief by the effective collapse of Hanjin Shipping, the world’s seventh-largest container line.
Loans, inflated by vessel values in the good times, are increasingly causing problems for borrowers and lenders alike as a result of bullet repayments due on maturity or as the charters (and alarmingly frequently these days, the charterers) underpinning cash flows come to an end.
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