Korea Line has filed for receivership at the Seoul Central District Court after facing a sharp drop in freight rates owing to a global oversupply of vessels.

The company, which has not made profits in six of the last seven quarters and is looking to freeze its assets, said it will continue to maintain operations.

The company halted trading of its shares and is restructuring its debt, which was reported as $2bn in September in its third quarter financial statement, according to businessweek.com.