Hapag-Lloyd secures green financing for newbuilds
Written by Nick Blenkey
Hapag-Lloyd CFO Mark Frese: “We are breaking new ground in the container shipping segment by financing newbuilding projects geared towards sustainability,”
Hapag-Lloyd is breaking new ground in financing. It has concluding two initial transactions under the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA). Both transactions — a syndicated loan of $417 million and lease financing of $472 million — are associated with the financing of the six ultra-large 23,500 TEU containerships ordered by Hapag-Lloyd in December 2020.
- A syndicated green loan in the amount of $417 million with a 12-year maturity will be used to finance three of the six containerships on order. The credit facility is being backed by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-SURE), and the syndicate consists of 11 banks. KfW IPEX-Bank and BNP Paribas were in charge of structuring and coordinating the transaction.
- The lease financing for the remaining three newbuildings is in the amount of $472 million, it has a maturity of 17 years plus construction-phase financing, and has been structured by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Leasing (ICBC Leasing).
“Our first green financings are a major milestone for us, as we are breaking new ground in the container shipping segment by financing newbuilding projects geared towards sustainability,” said Mark Frese, Chief Financial Officer of Hapag-Lloyd. “The transactions will help us to modernize our fleet while further reducing our CO2 footprint at the same time.”
Hapag-Lloyd says that, thanks to their extremely fuel-efficient high-pressure dual-fuel engines, the newbuildings will be able to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 15 to 25%. This means that in addition to the requirements of the LMA’s Green Loan Principles, the ships will also satisfy the screening criteria set for sea and coastal freight water transportation under the EU Taxonomy for sustainable activities.
The state-of-the-art vessels are being built in South Korea and are scheduled to be delivered in 2023
