Taiwanese line Yang Ming is rejigging its fleet capacity ahead of continuing trade wars in 2019.
The company said it would add four chartered 14,000-teu vessels, while returning seven "higher-cost" ships to their owners.
In the fourth quarter, it expects the escalating trade war to likely accelerate Chinese exports to the US and boost transpacific freight rates and loading factors as a result.
In the Asia-Europe market, Yang Ming also expects to see improving rates and volumes as factories resume production following the October China Golden week.
"Considering these factors, Yang Ming’s outlook for Q4 is optimistic."
It posted a net loss for the third quarter of TWD 910m ($30m), a reduction of 76.16% from the second quarter.
Revenue of TWD 38.72bn was up 15.23%, while volumes rose 9% to 1.41m teu.
The nine-month loss stands at $220m.
The owner blamed an unfavorable supply-demand balance with weakening freight rates and escalating bunker prices, which rose 28.38% in the first nine months year-on-year.
