HAMBURG, Germany — The sharp drop in freight prices following the pandemic has caused a slump in sales and profits at German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd.

Global shipping giants Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk have struck a partnership deal to operate some of their ships as a joint fleet in the future, the companies announced Jan. 17.

Attacks on merchant ships by Houthi militants near Yemen in the Red Sea have prompted trade disruption, with major vessel owners Maersk and Hapag-Lloyg halting trips through the area.

Europe’s biggest container lines want to phase out ships powered only by fossil fuels, they say in a proposal jointly made by Mediterranean Shipping Co., Maersk, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd.

The container shipping industry faces a few years of headwinds as low freight rates and widening geopolitical turmoil cloud the outlook, according to Hapag-Lloyd AG CEO Rolf Habben Jansen.

Hapag-Lloyd AG, the biggest container shipping line based in Germany, said Sept. 21 it will install SpaceX’s Starlink internet service aboard the ships it owns and manages.

One of the world’s biggest shipping lines has decided to stop increasing spot freight rates on routes out of Asia to Europe and the U.S. as it sees an end to the rally that has put prices at record highs.

Robust demand for shipping goods across the world’s oceans shows no signs of slowing down, the chief executive of Germany’s largest container carrier said, signaling that elevated rates in the tight market for seaborne cargo may extend into the second half of the year.

Shares of German shipping line Hapag-Lloyd AG plunged as much as 22% after the company cut its profit forecast for the year, as overcapacity in the industry combined with rising fuel costs to put a squeeze on profit.

Steamship line Hapag-Lloyd will increase fees to transport freight to the United States and cross-border freight from Canada. Cargo between Canada and the United States will be subject to a carbon tax.