Hapag-Lloyd Closes $4B Financing for 24 New Container Ships
Container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd has secured long-term financing, in the amount of $4 billion, for 24 large container ships ordered in October 2024, with a combined capacity of 312,000 TEU.
Around $900 million of the purchase price will be financed using the company’s own funds. A total of $500 million will be made available from two banks in the form of bilateral mortgage loans.
Another part, in the amount of $1.8 billion, will be financed via three leasing structures, and $1.1 billion will be financed via a syndicated credit facility backed by the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure).
The financing share amounts to a total of around 80% of the investment volume of around $5 nillion, with maturities ranging between 10 and 18 years.
The 24 ships will be built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art, low-emission and fuel-efficient high-pressure liquefied gas dual-fuel engines.
In addition, the vessels can be operated using biomethane, which can reduce CO2e emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional propulsion systems. The new ships will also be ammonia ready.
Delivery will take place between 2027 and 2029.
The financing will be carried out on the basis of Hapag-Lloyd’s Green Financing Framework, which in turn complies with the standards of the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA). This has been verified by an independent expert opinion of the international classification society DNV, as has the high efficiency of the ships and their compliance with the EU Taxonomy.
“We are continuously modernizing our fleet in order to deliver a high quality of service and to achieve our ambitious decarbonization goals.
“The successful conclusion of several attractive financial transactions confirms that green financing components are becoming increasingly important. In addition, we are pleased to be able to finance newbuild projects in China for the first time with the Sinosure transaction,” said Mark Frese, CFO/CPO of Hapag-Lloyd.