The container-shipping industry produced further evidence of the depth of its crisis on Thursday when Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines revealed a $391m first-half net loss and revenue slump.

The figures from Nol, whose core APL line operates the world’s fifth-largest container-ship fleet, come after Israel’s Zim said it expected to burn through $1bn cash over the next four years, and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd had to sell a stake in a key container terminal.