At the SMM Ship Finance Forum just ahead of SMM, the leading international maritime trade fair hamburg, experts will discuss the potential and prospects for new ship financing models. In spite of low newbuilding prices, the total number of ship orders is declining around the world. Financing difficulties are part of the problem, and new concepts are in demand to revitalise the market. "In ship finance we have to address two separate issues: On the one hand, we need to put the fleet in service on a more solid financial basis. After a five-year double crisis – one affecting the financial, the other the shipping markets – that may be a tall order. On the other hand we need to finance new tonnage to be commissioned over the next few years.