CIT Maritime helps Epic Gas grow fleet

Svein Engh

APRIL 4, 2014 — CIT Maritime Finance has provided a $46.4 million senior secured credit facility to Epic Gas Ltd.

Headquartered in Singapore, Epic Gas owns and operates a fleet of seaborne gas carriers to transport liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and petrochemicals. The facility was used to partially finance the acquisition of a fleet of five LPG tankers that includes three newbuildings and two modern gas carriers acquired in the secondary market. Financing from CIT was provided by CIT Bank , the U.S. commercial bank subsidiary of CIT. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This financing will allow Epic Gas to grow its fleet of tankers to support the growing demand in the LPG and petrochemical sectors,” said Svein Engh, Managing Director and Group Head of CIT Maritime Finance. “With the demand for ocean and coastal transportation activity expected to increase gradually, we’re pleased to play a role in the expansion of Epic’s growing footprint and we look forward to building this relationship.”

Lars Vang Christensen, CEO of Epic Gas, said, “The seaborne petrochemical trade is expected to grow year over year. These latest additions provide us the opportunity to continue growing our fleet with some of the largest vessels in the pressurized segment. CIT was able to put their knowledge to work for us. Their expertise and experience allowed us to complete this transaction in a timely manner with favorable terms. CIT played an important role in this phase of Epic’s expansion plans. We look forward to working with them on future projects.”

Asked about the financing picture in relation to LNG projects, Mr. Engh said: “We see some opportunities in the LNG sector as there is need for financing of a number of new vessels delivering in the near to medium term. However, most of these newbuildings are not contracted out and there is limited long term employment opportunities at this point. This makes financing challenging. … We have not seen much in the floating LNG sector.”