The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority assured workers of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines Inc. that the local unit of the Korean shipbuilder is not affected by the problem besetting transport company Hanjin Shipping Corp. Ltd.
“I think that the Hanjin workers in Subic have nothing to worry about because the financial woes affecting Hanjin Shipping has no impact on Subic. They can be rest assured that the Hanjin company in Subic is a separate entity and the one here is very stable,” SBMA chairman Roberto Garcia said Wednesday.
HHIC-Philippines has 35,000 direct and indirect employees working on various operations at company’s facility in Redondo Peninsula, a part of Subic Freeport.
Garcia issued the statement following inquiries from workers at HHIC-Philippine’s Redondo Peninsula shipyard in Subic Freepor,t after Hanjin Shipping Co., the world’s seventh largest shipping line, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States Friday.
The Korean shipping line was left bankrupt when creditor-banks rejected a debt-restructuring plan. Hanjin Group, its parent company, announced it would put up $90 million to bail out the shipping line.
Garcia said Hanjin Heavy Industries in Subic Freeport and the bankrupt Hanjin Shipping were two separate entities.
“HHIC-Phil is not related to Hanjin Shipping, so there is no need to worry,” he said. Garcia said the Subic shipbuilder separated from the Hanjin Group in 2005.
HHIC-Phil managing director for external trade Yoo Hoan Jo also said the Subic shipbuilding firm remained financially healthy and stable.
“Despite what is happening in the shipping industry, orders for container ships are still coming,” Jo said in a statement.
He said new orders included three ultra large container vessels with a capacity to carry 20,600 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers in one hauling.
Jo said the new projects “would likely mean additional workers for the completion of these three ULCVs.”
Jo said “the tried and tested Filipino workers at the Subic shipyard” helped Hanjin deliver 91 vessels since it started full operation at the Redondo Peninsula in 2008.
The company delivered 16 vessels last year and received numerous orders this year, including the three ULCVs.