Søren Skou, CEO of Maersk Line, the world's largest containerline, reckons that freight rates are picking up, though he was not satisified with his company's first-quarter performance.

"We expect the market to pick up towards the third quarter of 2016. Our network is now operating with very high utilisation and our vessels are full in the Asia-Europe trade. In this quarter, we expect some upward price momentum ahead of the traditional peak in the third quarter," Skou said in a release.

Maersk Line's first quarter 2016 result was US$37m, 94.9% lower than Q1 2015 on weak demand and record low freight rates.

"The first quarter in 2016 was characterised by a continuation of the global rate war in container shipping, driven by weak demand and significant supply growth," Maersk Line said in the release.

Maersk Line's average rate dipped by 25.5% to a record low of US$1,857 per feu.