Any disruption to the supply chain means items ordered by retailers and customers are sitting in containers unable to be unloaded.

Hanjin filed for bankruptcy protection on August 30. Almost immediately this caused major upheaval in global freight shipments as ports around the world refused to handle cargo from Hanjin ships over concerns about the shipper's ability to pay docking fees.

The official legal status of the group remains confusing. But according to AP, Hanjin Shipping says it has received $44.6 million from its current and former chiefs to relieve its global cargo crisis and that it  has started unloading in some US ports.

Australian property agents say the impact on warehouses has yet to be felt but, for retailers, a lot of stock for Christmas is said to be in some of the containers still unopened on the ships, one of which is at Sydney's Glebe dock.

Retailers and online shoppers order ahead for the festive season and while they allow for some delays, having the goods held captive on a boat is disruptive for the sales.

One upside is that if the dispute is not resolved soon, re-ordering will have to be done, which is a bonanza for suppliers.

Freight and Trade Alliance executive director Paul Zalai​ said importers are missing contractual obligations with retailers for the pre-Christmas period.

"For the lucky ones they are paying additional costs with direct stevedore payments to unload and deliver goods," Mr Zalai​ said.

"Unlucky ones still have cargo stranded on ships outside Australian ports as Hanjin is avoiding arrest of their vessels should they come into berth."

Robert Coode, chairman of the Australian Peak Shippers Association, Australia's designated peak body for ocean freight exporters, ​ said trouble for the shipping lines meant trouble for importers and exporters.

"The majority of our exports are carried on liner services and we all recognise that these events and the current pains shipping lines are experiencing are of major concern to Australia's exporters," Mr Coode said.

At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Hanjin had about 80 ships at sea with at least 500,000 containers on board.

Joe Dunlap, director of Supply Chain Services CBRE US, said in a scene reminiscent of the labour slowdown at US west coast ports in early 2015, dozens of ships with billions of dollars of cargo are anchored in international waters, sending retailers into a panic over how long their cargo will be delayed and their supply chains disrupted.

He said Hanjin had been trying to steer its ships to Singapore, Hamburg and Busan – key trans-shipment hubs across the globe – in order to minimise disruptions to the supply chain.

"While this will have a wide ripple effect over the global supply chain as importers look to diversify the way they import and export goods, the most immediate impact will be felt by retailers who are depending upon these shipments to replenish inventories now," Mr Dunlap said.

"The major near-term impacts are: Supply chain interruption, which means millions of dollars of merchandise destined for retail shelves is held back at ports or at sea until a resolution is reached and profit margin pressures, where the supply chain interruption and additional costs of re-ordering merchandise and expediting delivery will be another squeeze on retailer profit margins that already have been affected in recent years by e-commerce and omni channel growth."