Two ship brokers with knowledge with the matter told Reuters that two more ships operated by financially troubled South Korean shipper, Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd, have been put up for sale.

With offers for the vessels being sought by the end of this month, on Wednesday, details of the container ships, Hanjin Mar and Hanjin Marine, were released, the ship brokers were quoted by Reuters as saying.

The ship brokers, who asked not to be identified on the grounds that the deal is confidential, said that the ships are worth between $18 million and $22 million.

According to data from ship valuation firm VesselsValue, for a total of almost $39 million, three bulk carriers, used for carrying commodities such as iron ore, coal and grain, have been sold to Singapore and Greek buyers and the news comes amidst such reports.

On the other hand, a hard-line stance on Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd is being stuck to be the South Korean government which has for long been a bastion of support for the country’s big conglomerates.

The government has left the company to fend for itself except seeking to limit the impact on the export-dependent economy and Hanjin customers since the world’s seventh-largest container carrier filed for court receivership in late August.

“It now is entirely up to the court,” a government official closely linked to the matter told Reuters, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.

For firms undergoing restructuring in the ailing shipping and shipbuilding industries, no government or central bank money will be directly injected, South Korea has said.

Instead, dishing out cheap loans and providing funds to maintain shipbuilding jobs and retrain workers in hard-hit regions of the country, the government has extended aid to small-to-medium sized businesses jolted by the restructuring process.

Measures such arranging for rival shipper Hyundai Merchant Marine and smaller carriers to deploy ships to routes that were served by Hanjin has also been taken by the government.

While itself being under creditor-led debt restructuring, Korea Development Bank discussed arranging a merger between Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) in recent months. Hanjin Shipping executive Kim Hyun-seok said last week that the effort ended when Hanjin sought court receivership after lead creditor Korea Development Bank halted support.

A KDB official said that if it makes business sense and depending on the outcome of the receivership process, KDB, which is also HMM’s lead creditor, would be willing to back HMM’s acquisition of Hanjin assets.

“Although we are considering ways to absorb Hanjin Shipping’s market share, HMM is currently primarily focused on supporting cargo owners to minimize their difficulties,” a spokeswoman for HMM said.

(Adapted from Reuters)