Grimaldi Group has secured loans for a total of €70m ($68m) to buy two jumbo ro-ro vessels.
The two loans from Turin’s Intesa Sanpaolo will be used to purchase the newbuildings recently delivered from the CSC Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing, China.
Both lines of credit have been structured from Intesa Sanpaolo’s IMI corporate & investment banking division, led by Mauro Micillo.
The deals include a pricing mechanism linked to the achievement of specific environmental, social and governance targets.
Sustainability targets include a significant reduction in emissions, as well as the installation of photovoltaic solar systems on individual ships.
‘Unprecedented result’
The loans will be used to finance the 7,800-lane-metre Eco Mediterranea and Eco Adriatica (both built 2022).
They operate for Grimaldi Euromed, a subsidiary specialising in the operation of jumbo ro-ro ships in the Mediterranean.
The ships are the 10th and 11th of a series of Grimaldi Green 5th Generation (GG5G) class ships ordered from Jinling shipyard.
In September, the series was expanded to 14 vessels when the owner signed a deal for two more in the series.
Most operate in the Mediterranean trades, although three half-sisterships in the series joined Grimaldi’s Finnish subsidiary Finnlines this year.
Diego Pacella, managing director of Grimaldi Euromed, said the Eco series has “achieved an unprecedented result in terms of reducing the carbon footprint per unit of cargo transported”.
“We also very much appreciated the innovative aspects of these credit lines, which set concrete goals in terms of environmental sustainability, with a direct impact on pricing,” he added.
The GG5G vessels allow CO2 emissions to be halved and sulphur and particulate emissions to be reduced.
Lithium batteries on board, thanks to their ability to be recharged during navigation, can ensure achievement of the “zero emissions in port” objective.
The vessels have a length of 238 metres, a beam of 34 metres and a service speed of 20.8 knots.
The loading capacity over seven decks — two of which are hoistable — is twice that of the previous class of shortsea ro-ro ships deployed by the Grimaldi Group.
