The Hanjin Greece docked at the Port of Long Beach Saturday after nearly two weeks idled off the coast in the wake of the South Korean shipping lines bankruptcy filing. A Hanjin Shipping spokeswoman in Seoul said at least three more ships—the Hanjin Gdynia, the Hanjin Jungil and the Hanjin Montevideo—were expected to dock at Long Beach after the Greece’s scheduled departure late Monday.
In addition, the Hanjin Boston, which has been waiting at anchor in Southern California’s San Pedro Bay, is expected to berth at the Port of Los Angeles early Tuesday and begin unloading containers.

A manager for Hanjin in Long Beach said neither the Greece nor the other three ships calling at that port would take loaded export containers. One of the ships will take some empty containers, said Manager Henry Pak.The ailing South Korean company is working with ports in the U.S. and around the world to get cargo moving again after filing for the equivalent of chapter 11 in South Korea last month and days later seeking chapter 15 protection in the U.S.

The moves left dozens of ships, as well as cargo, crew and passengers, stranded at sea—and wreaked havoc on supply chains. Many port terminals aren’t accepting outbound Hanjin containers, including empty ones headed back to Asia after goods are unloaded at inland warehouses and shipping hubs.

Shippers with full export loads have had to pull their containers from the docks, rebook and transfer the cargo to other carriers—a process that has tripped up freight businesses well beyond Southern California.

“That creates logistical nightmares,” said Peter Friedmann, director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition, an industry group representing exporters of agriculture and forestry goods. As capacity tightens on routes from the U.S. to Asia, and particularly to the strong South Korean market, “exporters may have to get creative,” Mr. Friedmann said. They may book indirect routes through ports in China or elsewhere, for instance.

The Hanjin bankruptcy is also hitting importers, causing delays and congestion in and around the ports just as the annual peak shipping season, when retailers stock up on goods to sell to holiday shoppers, is getting under way.

“This couldn’t come at a worse time,” said George Boyle, chief executive of California-based logistics company Quik Pick Express LLC. “It’s going to take a lot of capacity out of the pipeline right at the time you need that capacity.”

Hanjin has asked a South Korean court for authorization to use some funds to have goods sitting at U.S. ports delivered to their owners. That process could be jump-started as soon as Wednesday.

eanwhile, empty Hanjin containers are clogging up docks and nearby container yards. To retrieve a container from stacks at the docks, for example, some cargo handlers have to first set aside Hanjin’s empties, creating delays.

Some shippers also are having a hard time rebooking cargo they’d packed into Hanjin containers because no one wants to be left with an empty container once it is unloaded.

Shane VanDerWaag of transportation and logistics provider The Dependable Companies, said for now he’s only offering what is called trans-loading service to his existing customers. “I’ve got enough problems,” he said. “It’s just kind of a perfect storm.”

Port terminal operators say they’re growing concerned about the availability of trailers, known as chassis, that truckers hitch to their cabs to haul containers. Shipping companies share a limited supply of chassis, and many of Hanjin’s empty containers are sitting on idle ones.

“Any empty container that’s on a chassis is kind of holding that chassis hostage,” said Mr. Boyle.