Liner operators could face collective losses of $23bn this year, says container analyst Sea-Intelligence.

The figure is an estimate of potential losses for carriers that have been forced to cancel services and blank sailings as the coronavirus outbreak continues to result in a drop in container volumes.

The Danish analyst said the staggeringly high figure was likely to be reached if liner operators were unable to prevent freight rates from declining by as much as they did during the financial crisis in 2009.