The average operating margins of 13 main container carriers remained negative in the second half of 2016 despite the freight rate improvements that followed the collapse of South Korea's Hanjin Shipping in late August, according to research by Alphaliner.
Three carriers, Wan Hai, Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM recorded positive operating results for the full year 2016, while the remaining ten carriers ended in the red.
The negative ten are Maersk, Zim, NYK, OOCL, K Line, MOL, EMC, COSCO, Yang Ming and HMM.
Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) recorded the worst operating results among the main carriers in 2016 after its carrier line suffered operating losses of US$595 million for a full year operating margin of -18.5%.
The company said that it will continue to rely on state support, including a government program to acquire and charter back HMM’s ships with the loss from the sale to be recovered by HMM through capital injections by the Korean government.
