NWSA objects to terminal sale

The Northwest Seaport alliance said it wanted more information and security before agreeing to transfer Terminal 46 in Seattle.

   The Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA), which encompasses marine terminals at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, said Friday that it filed an objection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, N.J. to the proposed sale of Hanjin Shipping’s interest in Total Terminals International (TTI).
   TTI has leased Terminal 46 in the Port of Seattle since 1991.
   A spokesman for NWSA said, “We take this action in order to ensure the interests of the NWSA, under its lease with TTI, are adequately protected in the form of surety of lease payments. Our action is consistent with one of the purposes of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, which is to protect the interests of US parties in a foreign bankruptcy.”
   He added that the port is “in conversations with our customer to mutually resolve the issue so that we can remove our objection.”
   Last month, the Board of Harbor Commissioners of the Port of Long Beach, where TTI leases Pier T, approved the sale of Hanjin’s interest in TTI to Terminals Investment Ltd (TIL), a sister company of MSC. Global Infrastructure Partners acquired a 35 percent interest in TIL in 2013.
   Hanjin Shipping owns 54 percent of TTI, while TIL owns 46 percent, and in its objection filed with the Newark Bankruptcy Court, the NWSA said the de facto assignment of TTI’s lease is prohibited without its consent.
   The NWSA said it has been negotiating to obtain financial information and security. The alliance said that while it is “willing to consent to the proposed assignment of the debtor’s interest in the lease if it receives the requested information and security, TIL has refused the NWSA’s reasonable requests, and thus the NWSA does not consent to the sale.”
   The NWSA court filing also indicated South Korea’s other major shipping company, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM), may still have some involvement in the deal.
   Hanjin Shipping’s “motion suggests that TIL is acquiring some portion of the ownership of TTI as an agent for HMM,” the NWSA said. “The motion does not detail the proposed ownership split between TIL and HMM, but given TIL’s current 44 percent ownership interest in TTI, the NWSA assumes that TIL would be the controlling holder and HMM would be a minority holder.”