Fratelli Cosulich has secured a loan worth €29.5m ($29.2m) to partially fund an LNG bunker tanker under construction in China due for delivery in 2023.
The loan was secured by a consortium of lenders comprising Credit Agricole Italia, UniCredit, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) and Banco BPM.
The banks were advised by Watson Farley & Williams, while the loan has the backing of Italian export credit agency Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE).
The loan will finance 70% of the $45m construction costs of the vessel, which is under construction at Chinese shipyard Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering Co.
The 5,300-tonne vessel, with a carrying capacity of 8,200-cbm of LNG and 500-cbm of marine gas oil, will be equipped with electric propulsion systems as well as dual technology power generators and a cargo management system designed and built by Wartsila Gas System.
In addition to a conventional boil-off gas combustion unit (GCU) management system, the vessel will also include an LNG ‘sub-cooling’ plant, which will wholly eliminate the already limited environmental impact of the GCU.
TradeWinds has previously reported that 10% of the cost of the vessel is covered by a grant from the European Union Connecting Europe Facility programme as the vessel is deemed a sustainable investment. CDP acted as Italian implementing partner.
Tim Cosulich, who is the chief executive in charge of all marine fuels and shipowning activities at the group, has previously told TradeWinds that the LNGBV newbuilding will be based in the Mediterranean.
The WFW Italy Maritime team that advised the lenders was led by Partner Furio Samela, assisted by senior associate Antonella Barbarito and associates Sergio Napolitano and Noemi D’Alessio.
Fratelli Cosulich recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for its first ammonia bunker tanker newbuilding with China’s Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering.
The MOU came less than a year after Fratelli Cosulich teamed up with compatriot class society Rina and Singapore naval architects SeaTech Solutions to develop an ammonia bunker tanker design.
