ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, the Israel-based container carrier, said it had a net loss in 2013 of US$530 million compared with US$428 million last year.

Excluding extraordinary expenses, the annual loss amounted to US$369 million. Revenues in 2013 amounted to US$3.7 billion, compared with US$4 billion in 2012, a decrease of 7 percent, resulting mostly from the decline in freight rates.

Zim, which has been hurt by tough economic conditions noted that a significant portion of that annual loss was concentrated into the fourth quarter, a reflection of the accelerated declines in rates toward the end of last year.

The company lost $282 million in the last three months of 2013, wider than $238 million the prior year. Excluding extraordinary expenses, Zim's loss was $113 million.

The average freight rate in 2013 decreased by about 9 percent, from US$1,342 per container in 2012 to US$1,227 in 2013. Zim said its EBIT full-year loss of $191m – which excludes extraordinary expenses – was a $15m improvement on 2012 and was due to “technological innovations” and a company efficiency drive. Zim, the world's 17th largest shipping industry with a 2 percent market share, is in the middle of a financial restructuring process.

In January, the firm agreed to a deal with most of its creditors that will see part of its debt swapped for shares and drop Israel Corp's stake to less than one-third.