Hanjin Shipping, South Korea's largest container carrier by sales, saw its first-quarter net loss widen from a year earlier due to higher fuel costs and lower cargo fees, reported Dow Jones Newswires.

The company's consolidated net loss for the three months ended March 31 widened to US$295 million from $12.77 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

Hanjin said it would "adapt early peak-season surcharges in addition to other freight rate increase efforts, and lower operating costs through deployment of low-cost mega vessels" in a bid to help counter the losses in the second quarter.

The average bunker fuel cost jumped to $715 per barrel in the first quarter from $528 a year earlier, while container-carrying fees plunged 11 percent, according to Hyundai Securities