Container shipping firm Hanjin Shipping, one of the top three operators on the key Asia-US route, expects the downturn-hit industry to recover by late next year, chairman Choi Eun-Young said.
Hanjin Shipping is set to see its losses narrow next year, she told Reuters, without elaborating.
The global shipping industry, hit by sluggish global trade and tight financing, is gearing up for a second straight year of turmoil in 2010.
Many ships are idled in ports as industry watchers estimate as much as 15 percent of the world's commercial shipping fleet could end up out of commission next year.
"All container shipping firms agree that further falls in freight rates would simply mean everyone's demise, and are trying to adjust capacity to bring forward a recovery," Choi told reporters.
"As we see it, (the container business) will turn up in the second half next year," she said, adding the industry likely hit bottom in the third quarter this year and was showing signs of stablisation.
She said Hanjin was talking to local shipbuilders to adjust delivery timing as the company tries to fight the downturn.
Industry officials say shipping firms and shipbuilders often agree to delay rather than cancel new vessel deliveries, a compromise that helps the shipping industry keep supply in check and shipbuilders avoid large revenue losses.
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