German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has joined the shift to green financing, securing funds for six liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered, 23,500 TEU containerships it ordered in December 2020.
The firm said it concluded two transactions according to the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA), as verified by independent secondary party DNV GL, as the shipping industry increasingly turns toward financing linked to measurable sustainability targets.
"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, Hapag-Lloyd's chief financial officer.
A $417 million syndicated green loan has a 12-year maturity and 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 $472 million lease financing for the remaining three newbuildings 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).
"The transactions will help us to modernize our fleet while further reducing our CO2 footprint at the same time," Frese said.
The newbuilds, which are being built at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) in South Korea for scheduled delivery in 2023, will be equipped with efficient MAN B&W 11G95ME-GI Mk10.5 high-pressure dual-fuel engines, enabling 15-25% CO2 emissions reductions. This means that in addition to the requirements of the LMA’s Green Loan Principles, the ships will also satisfy the EU Taxonomy’s technical screening criteria for sea and coastal freight water transport.
Once operational, the vessels will be deployed on the Europe – Far East routes as part of THE Alliance.