Shipper sees signs of rebound

* username: rupertbu

United Arab Shipping Co (UASC), which is owned by six Gulf countries, finally turned an operating profit last month on some routes in a sign that the brutal conditions in global shipping have begun to improve.

Last year was one of the worst on record for seaborne trade as demand fell and shipping firms continued to take new vessels ordered during the boom years of last decade.

Industrywide losses have been forecast at between US$12 billion (Dh44.04bn) and $15bn last year, said Jorn Hinge, the president and chief executive of UASC, based in Dubai.