Government bails out Hapag -Lloyd

The bailout aims to help Germany’s biggest container shipping line to survive the global recession that has crippled many companies in the transportation and logistics industry.

While the Bundestag’s budget committee has approved the bailout, it wants the government to consider imposing certain conditions on Hapag-Lloyd’s owners, such as a cap on executive pay and a dividend ban.

According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Hapag-Lloyd expects to post a loss of about $1.3bn this year, and up to US$730m in 2010.