Abn Amro News

Swedbank has signed the Poseidon Principles, a global framework for integrating climate considerations into lending decisions within ship financeThe Poseidon Principles provide a standardised methodology for data collection and reporting of emissions from banks’ shipping portfolios, with the overall ambition of supporting and facilitating the decarbonization of the shipping industry.The Poseidon Principles are consistent with the policies and ambitions of the IMO, including its…

ProMarine AG has launched an industry-first sustainable shipping fund with an initial portfolio of four methanol-fuelled MR tankers led by Proman and Stena Bulk.Low Emission Methanol Shipping Company S.C.A. SICAV–RAIF (LEMSCO) is the result of a collaboration between Proman and Stena Bulk. The fund is backed by equity investors and benefits from a green loan from ABN AMRO. LEMSCO's seed assets consist of four methanol fuelled vessels acquired from Proman and Stena Bulk: Stena Pro Patria…

Maritime battery supplier EST-Floattech appointed Mark Witjens as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Joep Gorgels as Chief Financial Officer/Chief Business Development Officer (CFO/CBDO). Since its foundation in 2009, EST-Floattech has a track record of more than 200 projects and a growing number of recurring customers. Recently, the first successes have also been achieved by its Hamburg office, which opened in August 2021. With the arrival of Witjens and Gorgels, who will be working from the headquarters in Badhoevedorp…

A Singapore court has approved a freeze on up to $3.5 billion of assets of the family behind collapsed Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, boosting the prospect of debt recovery from the former oil trading empire that counts some of the world's biggest banks among its creditors.Hin Leong was wound up in March after failing in a year-long effort to restructure more than $3 billion in debts after the COVID-19-led oil crash laid bare huge losses. Founder Lim Oon Kuin admitted in a court document…

Dutch-based geo-data specialist Fugro said its supervisory board has nominated Barbara Geelen for appointment as member of the board of management and chief financial officer. She will succeed Paul Verhagen, who is slated to step down as Fugro CFO at the upcoming general meeting of shareholders.Geelen's nomination as member of the board of management in the role of CFO for a period of four years until the general meeting of shareholders in 2025, will be submitted to shareholders for approval at an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders to be convened on May 12.

Oil prices jumped about 3% on Friday, hitting their highest levels in over a year, following a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report and decision by OPEC and its allies not to increase supply in April.Brent futures rose $2.10, or 3.2%, to $68.84 a barrel by 11:25 a.m. EST (1625 GMT). Earlier in the session, the global benchmark hit its highest since January 2020.U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.87, or 2.9%, to $65.70 per barrel, after earlier scaling its highest since April 2019.For the week…

TORM said on Monday it has entered into an agreement to purchase eight MR product tankers with chemical trading capabilities from TEAM Tankers in a partly share-based transaction.The deal, which includes a total cash consideration of $82.5 million and the issuance of 5.97 million shares, will increase TORM’s total fleet to 83 vessels.The eight vessels are all built at the Croatian shipyard Brodotrogir from 2007 through 2012, and six of them have specialized cargo tank configurations and extended tank segregations (IMO 2), allowing for enhanced trading flexibility through chemical trading options, while still being able to work integrated in the existing One TORM operational platform.The vessels are:TEAM Amorina (2012-built…

Many of the world’s biggest lenders to shipping companies fell short of carbon-cutting targets last year in the first analysis of CO2 goals for the sector by financiers, a report showed on Wednesday.Global shipping accounts for nearly 3% of the world’s CO2 emissions and the industry is under pressure to reduce those emissions and other pollution. About 90% of world trade is transported by sea.Last year, a group of leading banks signed up to environmental commitments known as the Poseidon Principles…

With the signing by the France-based international lender to global shipping BNP Paribas and the Swiss multinational investment bank Credit Suisse, Signatories of the Poseidon Principles represent around $140 billion in loans to international shipping – about 30% of the total global ship finance portfolio.Poseidon Principles is a global framework for responsible ship finance which helps incentivize shipping’s decarbonization.They establish a common framework to quantitatively assess and disclose whether financial institutions’ lending portfolios are in line with climate goals set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized…

Denmark-based product tanker company TORM has obtained a commitment for a total of USD 496 million from a syndicate of lenders to refinance its debt and bolster its capital structure.The carrier of refined oil products said the total amount is a combination of two separate term facilities and a revolving credit facility, which will be used to refinance the company’s debt covering a total of USD 502 million.Following the refinancing, TORM does not have any major debt maturities until 2026 which supports TORM’s strong capital structure, it said.“I am very pleased that we have been able to utilize TORM’s strong relationship with our lenders to remove all major near- and medium-term debt maturities with the financing of USD 496m in debt facilities at attractive terms.

30 companies and institutional investors have signed up to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Sustainable Ocean Principles committing to take action to secure a healthy and productive ocean.UNGC is a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact works with companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.The signatories to the principles include the container ship and supply vessel operator A.P. Møller – Mærsk, food and beverage company PepsiCo, and Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages one of the world’s largest funds with over US$ 1 trillion in assets.

Leading ports, banks, oil and shipping companies on Monday launched an initiative which aims to have ships and marine fuels with zero carbon emissions on the high seas by 2030, in another step by the maritime sector to reduce CO2.International shipping accounts for 2.2% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO), has a long-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.Achieving this target will…

Global Ship Lease (GSL), UK-based holding company and containership charter owner, has now settled a five-year refinancing of its debt.According to the container ship owner, the new syndicated $268m credit facility is signed with a number of commercial lenders including Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, CIT Bank, Hellenic Bank and Siemens Financial Services.GSL expects to draw down the first tranche of the New Senior Loan, in full, of $230 million shortly and will use the proceeds to refinance five existing senior credit facilities with maturities in December 2020 and April 2021, thereby reducing its cost of debt…

Monaco-based shipowner GasLog has taken delivery of the 180,000-m3 GasLog Warsaw liquefied natural gas carrier (LNGC) from South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) on July 31.GasLog Warsaw is the first 180,000 cbm LNG tanker delivered to the company by SHI. The shipbuilder has a further seven units for GasLog on order.GasLog Warsaw is a 180,000 cubic meter (cbm) Mark III Flex Plus carrier with low pressure dual fuel two-stroke (X-DF) propulsion.The vessel was immediately delivered into a new charter with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cheniere Energy for the period prior to the commencement of her long-term charter with a subsidiary of Endesa in May 2021.On June 25, 2019, GasLog entered into a loan agreement with ABN AMRO BANK N.V.

The Port of Rotterdam has announced that the first paperless and fully door-to-door tracked container, based on blockchain technology, has arrived at the warehouse of Samsung SDS in Tilburg.Last year Dutch bank ABN AMRO collaborated with the Port of Rotterdam and Samsung SDS on a blockchain trade initiative, DELIVER. The DELIVER concept fuels process automation and provides value for all actors in the supply chain.Yesterday, they have successfully tracked and instantly financed a shipping container and the Proof of Concept (PoC) phase is complete. The entire journey was paperless and automated thanks to the distributed ledger technology (DLT) based solution."ABN AMRO…

A group of leading banks will for the first time include efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions in their decision making when providing shipping company loans, executives said on Tuesday.International shipping accounts for 2.2% of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO), has a long-term goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050.Working with non-profit organisations the Global Maritime Forum, the Rocky Mountain Institute and London University's UCL Energy Institute…

Eleven banks with a combined shipping finance portfolio of $100bn will for the first time integrate climate considerations into lending decisions to incentivize maritime shipping's decarbonization.Named 'the Poseidon Principles', the new rules are a global framework for assessing and disclosing the climate alignment of financial institutions' shipping portfolios, said joint press release from Rocky Mountain Institute, Global Maritime Forum and UCL Energy Institute.Founding Signatories include Citi, Societe Generale, DNB, ABN Amro, Amsterdam Trade Bank, Credit Agricole CIB, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, DVB, ING and Nordea, and represent around 20% of the global ship finance portfolio."As banks…

Netherlands-based transmission system operator TenneT Holding B.V. has launched and priced another Green Bond issue of EUR 1.25 billion, with proceeds set to be used for investing in offshore wind.The Green Bond issue is split in two tranches of EUR 500 million and EUR 750 million with the support of five banks: ABN AMRO, Barclays, HSBC, NatWest Markets and SMBC Nikko."Proceeds will be used to invest in green projects in the Netherlands and Germany to connect large scale of offshore wind to the onshore electricity grid," said a press release.Over the next ten years TenneT expects to invest EUR 35 billion in offshore and onshore grid connections across the Netherlands and Germany, driving the energy transition.Approx.

American shipowner Eagle Bulk Shipping  has announced that Eagle Bulk Ultraco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has closed on a new five-year senior secured facility  totaling USD 208.4 million, maturing in 2024. The global transporter of drybulk commodities said that the Facility is secured by 21 vessels, including the M/V Cape Town Eagle which was acquired earlier this month, and includes a term loan of USD 153.4 million and a revolving credit facility of USD 55 million.Gary Vogel, Eagle’s CEO, said: “We are very pleased that the Company continues to secure increasingly attractive debt financing and has increased its financial flexibility in the process.

Connecticut-headquartered Eagle Bulk Shipping said that its wholly-owned subsidiary Eagle Bulk Ultraco has received a loan commitment from a consortium of banks for a new five year senior secured facility totaling approximately $208 million.According to the company, the Facility will include a term loan equating to approximately $153 million and a revolving credit facility of $55 million, and will be used to refinance the existing debt of Eagle Bulk Ultraco LLC and Eagle Shipping, as well as for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures relating to the installation of exhaust gas cleaning systems, or scrubbers.Upon the closing of the transaction and the repayment in full of the Refinanced Debt…

The European Investment Bank (EIB) announces the signature of the first agreement under its Green Shipping Guarantee Programme (GSGP) through ABN Amro.The EIB will contribute EUR 10.1 million to an ABN AMRO arranged facility to finance the construction of three cement carrier vessels for the Eureka Shipping group, said a press release.The project vessels’ design represents an improvement to the overall environmental performance of the promoter’s fleet, as well as cement carrier vessels currently operating in European waters. The new vessels, which will be laid up in the Netherlands, will operate with significantly better fuel efficiency…

International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Norway’s DNB Bank ASA (DNB), as facility agent and security agent for a syndicate of banks comprising itself, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., BNP Paribas, Danish Ship Finance and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB, in relation to a US$310m loan facility provided to Star Bulk Carriers Corp.Secured on 26 vessels in Star Bulk’s fleet, the facility consists of two tranches: (a) a first tranche of US$240m used to refinance Star Bulk’s debt under five existing facility agreements; and (b) a second tranche of US$70m used to finance the prospective capital expense for the retrofitting of vessels…

The diversified holding company HC2 Holdings announced that it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a potential sale, for its  Global Marine Group (GMG)  subsidiary.As part of this process, Global Marine Holdings, a leading provider of offshore engineering services to the telecommunications, renewables and oil & gas industries through its operating subsidiary Global Marine Systems Limited, has engaged Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and ABN AMRO Bank as joint advisors to explore strategic alternatives for the business."Since our acquisition four years ago, the management team at Global Marine has repositioned and strengthened itself by securing and maintaining leadership positions in various key growth markets…