Neptune Orient submitted the bid on Sept 26, the Singapore-based company said in a statement on Monday, without giving any financial details.

Hapag-Lloyd is valued by some analysts at 5.4 billion euros (S$11.2 billion).

The acquisition would combine Neptune Orient's Asia-Europe transport business with the German company's strength in trans- Atlantic and Pacific routes.

Neptune Orient is competing for Hapag-Lloyd with an investor group including the city of Hamburg.

The bid comes as the container-shipping industry faces slowing global trade and an increase in the supply of new vessels and fuel prices, which have climbed 26 per cent this year, said Bloomberg.

Almost 90 per cent of global trade moves by sea.

A takeover could create the world's third-largest container shipping company after AP Moeller-Maersk A/S and Mediterranean Shipping, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Trans-Atlantic trade accounted for the smallest portion of Neptune Orient's total container volume in the first half of the year. Trans-Pacific routes were 34 per cent of the total and Asia-Europe routes were 18 per cent.

Bank loans
Neptune Orient hired 11 banks to arrange a US$6 billion (S$8.6 billion) loan for its bid for Hapag-Lloyd, five people involved in the deal said on Aug 18, according to Bloomberg.

TUI said last week it expected to make a decision by the middle of October on the bids. It called the bid made by the group including the German city of Hamburg 'good'.

The other members of the group include private investment bank M.M. Warburg, led by Mr Christian Olearius, and logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kuehne.

Neptune Orient dropped 2 per cent to S$1.98 on Friday in Singapore. The stock has fallen 49 per cent this year, compared with a 30 per cent decline in the benchmark Straits Times Index.