Cosco-owned containership company OOCL has returned to profit in the first half as volumes grew.

Profit attributable to equity holders was $139m, turning around a loss of $10m in 2018.

Revenue was up at $3.3bn from $3.1bn, as liner liftings grew to 3.4m teu from 3.3m teu.

It added no newbuildings and did not order any either.

"In terms of medium and long-term supply growth, the containership orderbook, as a percentage of the total fleet, is at low levels not seen for more than a decade," it said.