SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) — The global economic slowdown will push some shipping lines into bankruptcy as demand for commodities cools and trade slows, investor Marc Faber said.

"This is an industry that could be hit harder than what has been expected," Faber, who predicted the 1987 stock-market crash, said in an interview in Singapore yesterday. "We are really at the very beginning of an economic slump and it could last for quite sometime."

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of commodities-shipping costs, has plunged 82 percent in the past year as Chinese steelmakers have cut iron-ore imports on slower demand. Container rates have also fallen because US and European consumers are buying less Asian-made furniture, toys and clothes.

"There has been an acute and significant decrease in near- term demand for shipping capacity," Jon Windham, Winnie Guo and Yumi Park, analysts at Macquarie Group Ltd., wrote in an October 9 report. "The primary cause is a significant fall off in general demand driven largely by companies' fears to extend cash."

Svithoid Tankers AB, a Swedish shipping line, said yesterday that intends to file for insolvency liquidation after failing to secure new financing.

Companies worldwide are struggling to secure credit as the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the wider economic slowdown have caused banks to cut lending because of increased concerns about getting their money back.

Shipowners will also likely find it more expensive to get funding, according to Faber, managing director of Marc Faber Ltd. and publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report. The maritime sector needs about $300 billion over the next three to four years to fund the construction of vessels already on order, according to Nordea Bank Finland Plc, the largest lender to the sector last year.

The credit crunch may also impact shipping by making it harder for traders to secure letters of credit, the financing notes that are key to many transactions.

"The banks don't trust each other," Faber said. "Some shipments may be delayed because of fears the letter of credit won't be accepted by another bank."