Taiwan's Yang Ming has been pushed into the red in the third quarter after failing to declare options to keep expensive chartered boxships.

The container line said the "strategic decision" had led to obligations under the contracts, at an estimated cost of TWD 1.39bn ($44.75m).

Since 2018, Yang Ming has redelivered 13 of its "high-cost" chartered vessels and will send another five back to owners next year.

This, coupled with its newly built containerships coming into service, will reduce its operating costs.

Without the one-off expenses, the shipowner would have been profitable.

Loss rises

Instead it logged a net loss of TWD 1.38bn in the three months to 30 September, compared with TWD 910m in 2018.

Revenue dipped to TWD 37.78bn from TWD 38.72bn, while volumes were up 1.99% year-on-year to 1.44m teu.

Regarding the charter decision, it said: "Nevertheless, Yang Ming’s cash flow and operations were not affected and the company continues to see encouraging results.

"The container shipping market remains vulnerable to trade uncertainties and geopolitical tensions. It is unclear the extent of potential impact those tensions and uncertainties will have on demand."

It added: "Despite unpredictable market conditions, Yang Ming has improved its volume and revenue largely due to the efforts of business strategy and competitiveness enhancements."

Anticipating ongoing US-China trade disputes and a shift in the global supply chain, Yang Ming will continue to optimise its intra-Asia service network, it said.