The Northwest Seaport Alliance, which operates the Seattle and Tacoma ports, says it hasn’t received financial background information or a security deposit from the proposed new owners of the terminal facility.
On Friday, it asked a judge to block the pending sale unless the buyers hand over the financial documents and pay a minimum one-year lease charge of $11.25 million.
Last month, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping and its affiliate, Luxembourg-based Terminal Investment Limited, agreed to buy a majority stake in the Terminal 46 operation from Hanjin, which went bankrupt in August.
Hanjin, which has leased the central Seattle waterfront terminal since 1991, shipped cargo from its own vessels and oversaw the unloading of all containers at the facility.
Lawyers for the Port said in court documents that they’re not necessarily trying to derail the sale but want to do their due diligence to ensure the new terminal operating company is fit to take over Hanjin’s old lease, which stretches through 2025.
Terminal Investment said its interpretation of the lease is that it doesn’t need to provide a security deposit, court records show. Previously, Hanjin had provided only a corporate guaranty that it would fulfill the lease, but those assurances are now worthless because the company is bankrupt.
A hearing on the Port’s objection is Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey, where Hanjin filed for Chapter 15 protection.
If the objection is denied, officials at the seaport alliance said they’d work with the new owners to try to come up with a different security deposit or background check. They don’t necessarily intend to end the lease altogether.
