COPENHAGEN - Shipping freight rates for transporting containers from ports in Asia to Northern Europe plunged by 39.3 percent to $409 per 20-foot container (TEU) in the week ended on Friday, one source with access to data from the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index told Reuters. The drop came after spot freight rates on the world’s busiest route dropped 31.8 percent last week, and current level is widely seen as a loss-making level for container shipping companies. In the week to Friday, container freight rates fell 37.2 percent from Asia to ports in the Mediterranean, fell 8.4 percent to ports on the U.S. West Coast and were down 9.0 percent to ports on the U.S. East Coast. Maersk Line, the global market leader with more than 600 container vessels and part of Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk, last week reported a 61 percent drop in net profit in the third quarter. The Danish shipping company controls around one fifth of all transported containers from Asia to Europe.