South Korean construction conglomerate Samra Midas Group (SM Group) has completed the takeover of Hanjin Shipping's Asia to US assets for a total purchase price of approximately USD23 million. SM shipping, a new container line created under SM Group, plan to begin operation this month with their fleet of twelve vessels.

However, their may be delays in operation as SM shipping struggle to source containers to fill their vessels. They would need about 90,000 containers to deliver cargo on their primary Asia-North America route and others. Before Hanjin Shipping was placed under court protection in September last year, Korea's largest and world’s seventh largest shipper owned 530,000 containers.

Container prices have jumped due to increased demand. New 20' containers cost USD2,100 per unit, up 24 percent from an average of USD1,700 to $1,800 last year. SM Shipping would need USD189 million to fill boxes on its cargo ships. “We plan to buy second-handed containers to start operation of our major Asia to North America shipping route, and gradually add the rest to other routes,” said an official from SM Shipping. “We are working hard to start operation in March as we planned,” he added.