Hanjin Shipping's many thousand employees look increasingly set to lose their jobs, as the crisis-struck South Korean carrier has been wound down piece by piece over recent months.

The carrier's CEO Seok Tae-soo has allegedly made contact with companies within the country's shipping and logistics sector, including competitor Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) encouraging them to offer work to Hanjin's employees, according to media IHS Fairplay.

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"Many employees have found other jobs (on their own) upon the sale of the company’s businesses, but we have been seeking ways to get our staff re-employed," writes Seok in a letter to the companies:

"Our staff, having served a national shipping line with a 40-year history, have built up a trusted network in every sector, both inside and outside South Korea. For Hanjin Shipping's talent to receive new opportunities would be conducive to the continuous development of South Korea's shipping industry and your esteemed company."

Hanjin Shipping applied for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 31 after the carrier accumulated a debt worth USD 5 billion in a miserable market for container. The creditors lead by state-owned Korea Development Bank (KDB) ultimately pulled the plug on funding and Hanjin is now in the process of being wound down.

Most recently, South Korean bulk carrier Korea Line was selected as the preferred buyer of Hanjin's  Asia-US business while the company's European business is in the process of being sold.

The deadline for a final decision on the carrier's remaining assets has been postponed from Dec. 23 this year to February 2017.

Final decision on Hanjin's fate postponed to next year

Hanjin gets winning bid from shipper that once almost failed

Korea Line picked as preferred bidder for key Hanjin service