Temasek Holdings is putting its 65 percent stake in Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) on the market.

Temasek, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund, estimates that the Singapore-based NOL is worth $2.6 billion, meaning it intends to collect $1.7 billion from any NOL sale.

NOL, through its operating brand, the container carrier APL, has had its share of financial problems in recent years. Revenue is down from $9.4 billion in 2010 to $8.6 billion in 2014. 2010 was the last year the company showed a profit, at $461 million. Last year it lost $260 million.

In May, NOL Group reported a first quarter 2015 net loss of $11 million, much better tha the $98- million net loss in the same period last year. The group posted a positive first quarter 2015 Core EBIT (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Non-Recurring Items) of $30 million, compared to a $65 million loss last year. NOL attributed the positive core EBIT to cost savings of $155 million and lower fuel costs.

At the same time NOL’s revenues declined 13 percent to $2 billion in the quarter. The company attributed the revenue shortfall to freight rate erosion, capacity cuts in unprofitable lanes, and the adverse impact from U.S. West Coast port congestion.

APL, NOL’s container shipping business, reported a positive first quaerter EBIT of $13 million on revenuer of $1.6 billion, compared to a loss of $82 million over the same period last year. First quarter year-on-year volume fell 15 percent, and APL’s average freight rates dipped 8 percent versus the same quarter last year.

Last May, Temasek sold its logistics division APL Logistics to Japanese Kinetsu World Express for $1.2 billion. Oberservers speculated that the NOL and APL Logistics transactions were separated in order to derive greater value for the shareholders.

Temasek reports a net portfolio value at of $194 billion, having more than doubled in the last decade from $75 million.

Industry observers note that Hapag-Lloyd AG and Orient Overseas International are the most likely buyers of NOL. Hapag-Lloyd’s recent announcement of an initial public offering, some say, means the carrier is gearing up to bid on NOL.

A mixture of overcapacity, weak demand and aggressive pricing is threatening liner shipping industry profitability for the rest of 2015, according to Drewry, the London-based shipping consultancy.

The conclusion is a departure from Drewry’s earlier forecast that container shipping carriers would collectively generate profits of $8 billion in 2015.

“This means that some lines will be back in the red by the end of 2015,” said Neil Dekker, Drewry’s director of container shipping research. “The only way to address this is for carriers to take much more radical action to address overcapacity which is now plaguing virtually all major trade routes.”

During the first quarter of 2015, industry cost savings brought on by falling oil prices were passed onto shippers by carriers in the form of much lower freight rates. But going forward, said Dekker, “shipping lines will struggle to continue reducing unit costs in line with the expected erosion in freight rates, given stabilising bunker costs.”

Drewry estimates that this year average global freight rates will decline at their fastest pace since 2011, when the fall in industry unit revenue was 10 percent. Second quarter spot rates in the four main East-West trades fell by 32 percent year-on-year.

The recent decision by three container lines to remove four percent of the capacity in the Asia-North Europe trade should push rates up, Dekker noted, but is “only a very temporary solution. As many as 129 ships of 8,000 teu and above still need to find homes across a number of trades in the second half of 2015.” Each quarter 10 to 15 ultra-large vessels enter the market, he added.

The average global head-haul utilization fell to 83 percent during the first quarter of 2015. The perceived weakness in the market pushed many lines into a rate war mode across a number of trade routes.

“Ocean carriers need to be thinking of average head haul trade route fill factors of 80 to 85 percent as the norm, rather than 90 percent or more,” said Dekker. “They cannot keep adding capacity and expect there to be no substantial impact on unit revenues.”

The Westbound Transatlantic and Asia-to-Middle East trades are currently the bright spots in an otherwise gloomy picture for carriers. “Rarely have we seen so many major routes performing so poorly all at once,” said Dekker. “Spot freight rates have reached historical lows on the Asia-to-Europe and Asia-to-East Coast South America trades. Carriers’ emphasis on ordering so many big ships is starting to backfire and virtually all major head haul trades are plagued by overcapacity.”