Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Co (Asco) is banking European cash to fund its expansion.
The Azeri owner said it has signed a mandate letter with the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) and Azerbaijani Investment Holding as part of a newbuilding drive to decarbonise its operation.
Domestic media reported that the agreement will be worth $100m.
The deal was agreed in Azerbaijan by Nandita Parshad, executive director of the EBRD’s sustainable infrastructure group; Ruslan Alikhanov, chief executive of Azerbaijan Investment Holding; and Asco chairman Rauf Veliyev.
The document provides for the bank to grant a “large-volume credit” without a sovereign guarantee for the fleet upgrade.
VesselsValue lists Asco with 183 ships worth $309m, plus ship repair yards.
The fleet includes product tankers, general cargo and multipurpose tonnage, ro-ros, ferries, crane ships, platform supply vessels and anchor-handling tug supply units.
Two small clean tankers are on order at the domestic Baku Shipyard.
The 7,875-dwt chemical and product carriers were set to be delivered in 2021, but Clarksons now lists them as coming this year.
Big plans for expansion
In 2019, Asco said it wanted to build 56 offshore support vessels over the next decade as it looks to service oilfields, replacing ships built in the 1960s and 1970.
The new orders will comprise anchor-handlers, supply ships, pilot vessels, fire safety ships and crew boats.
The year before, talks were being held for vessels such as a new 100-ton lifting capacity DP2 crane unit, a 50-ton lifting capacity DP1 crane vessel, a 50-ton bollard pull tug and a 120-ton bollard pull anchor-handler.
Two tankers could also follow.
