The retreat of traditional Western banks from mainstream ship finance over the last decade proved a fertile market for new lenders to spring up.

These “alternative” lenders — as they were christened — helped fund deals, especially for smaller owners who saw their previous banks lock their doors and their relationship managers lose their jobs.

The new lenders are now maturing, with experienced staff delivering valuable services, and have become an increasingly important pillar of the industry.

“We should be talking today about ‘non-traditional’ finance, not ‘alternative’ since today there is something for everyone,” Nicholas Petrakakos, partner and managing director of maritime & offshore at investment bank Alantra told the Marine Money conference in London.

Nicolai Heidenreich, partner and maritime fund manager at lender NRP, said the sector has matured in the last few years.

“The knowledge is there. It is much more professionalised shipping-wise,” he said. “It’s not alternative any more as ‘shipping people’ are doing the lending,” referring to the experienced staff many have recruited.

Toufitri Akdime, senior vice president at EnTrust Global, added: “The dynamism of people like us has really changed. The expertise is an important part, as is the diversity.”

Some long-standing questions remain, however, about the pricing of loans from these new lenders, how active are they, and whether they are in it for the long term, said moderator Ian Mace, partner and global head of maritime finance at law firm Stephenson Harwood.

Others see hidden risks, especially in the pricing of loans.

Halvor Steen, chief executive of Maritime & Merchant Bank (M&M), believes loans are being priced too cheaply.

“250 basis points is not prudent pricing of the risk of shipping,” he told the audience.

However, as the leader of a “traditional” bank set up in 2017 he admitted the competition from non-traditional lenders was tough.

“We can feel the competition from time to time, and it’s very annoying!” he said to laughter.

M&M is regulated by the Norwegian ministry of finance and funded by equity and retail deposits. Around half of its clients are Norwegian, with the remainder in Athens, Hamburg, Singapore and the US.

Tobias Backer, the co-founder of Fleetscape, said that scale had delivered lower finance costs which could be passed on to borrowers.

Backed by fund management giant Oaktree Capital Management, Fleetscape has grown since its launch in 2017 to have $1.6bn in gross funding with 67 vessels in loans, leases and other products.

“Banks are now willing to lend to us at a relatively cheap rate. At the start, our borrowing cost was quite high.

“Now we can borrow money quite competitively and that cost has been passed to clients.”

Petrakakos said Alantra, which works with a broad range of credit providers, saw changes in the Asian market.

“After the problems last year with corruption allegations, we now see Chinese lessors coming back, and being stronger in the newbuilding space.”