CSAV posts huge first half loss

CSAV posts huge first half loss    Chilean ocean carrier CSAV lost nearly $413 million in the first half of 2009, adding to financial woes that necessitated a cash infusion earlier this year by ship owners from which the line charters vessels.
   Revenue slumped 36.7 percent to $1.5 billion from the same period in 2008, while the loss reversed an $18 million profit in the first half of 2008. The second half of 2008 turned bad for CSAV, and it posted a $134 million loss for the entire year.
   The line secured $145 million in financing through a rights issue from current shareholders, with another $300 million to come. Another $360 million in cash has been raised from German ship owners who agreed to take equity shares for their cash infusion after the line unsuccessfully tried to negotiate lower rates on long-term charters. The ship owners were keen to see CSAV survive because if the line defaulted, they would be stuck with a bevy of ships in a poor market for owners.
   Though CSAV struggled last year, its losses mirror a host of lines who have posted deep red numbers in the first half of 2009, signaling the extent to which container demand and rates dropped from the first six months of 2008 to the same period in 2009.