Temasek Holdings, Singapore's state investment company, has reportedly put up Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) for sale, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

NOL, which has not been doing particularly well in the past few years, is 65 per cent owned by Temasek.

"The deal would allow Temasek to exit the container shipping business, which has performed poorly in recent years amid excess capacity," the report said.

NOL had earlier this year sold its logistics business, APL Logistics, to Kintetsu World Express for $1.2 billion.

There has been some recent speculation of NOL merging with OOCL.