Seanergy Maritime Holdings has taken out a $16.9m sustainability-linked loan facility to cover half the cost of a secondhand capesize bulker it bought in late May.
The New York-listed owner of 17 capesizes purchased the 181,000-dwt, 2012-built ship, which it renamed Worldship, on 24 May from a Japanese shipyard for $33.7m.
The loan "from a leading European bank" will amortise over five years with a final balloon payment of $6.1m at maturity, Seanergy said.
The interest rate will be 3.05% plus Libor per year to start but may be lowered if Seanergy lowers carbon emissions by a certain amount.
Seanergy also said it signed a 2050 Call for Action for Shipping Decarbonization backed by more than 190 organisations across maritime.
"We are very pleased to announce another innovative financing for Seanergy which is consistent both with our conservative leverage approach, as well as our commitment to our sustainability objectives," chief executive Stamatis Tsantanis said in a statement.
The Worldship marked the fifth secondhand capesize acquisition this year, taking its pureplay fleet to 16 capesizes at the time.
Since then, New York-listed Seanergy bought a sixth secondhand capesize on 21 October for $34.3m with cash on hand in a move that took its fleet to 17 capesizes.
Seanergy did not disclose the ship's previous owner, but TradeWinds had reported that brokers said China's Redwood Ocean Shipping (Rosco) sold the 181,500-dwt Rosco Maple (built 2010) to Seanergy for $34.3m.
The capesize market has been very volatile over the past several weeks amid rapid changes in iron-ore and coal prices and waning demand for these commodities.
