Thailand’s Precious Shipping has secured a $105m sustainability-linked loan to finance the acquisition of up to six bulkers.
However, the Bangkok-based shipowner tells TradeWinds that it is in no rush to spend the new money.
“The loan has a two-year availability period for drawdown, so we have the luxury of time to purchase ships from such funds,” Precious managing director Khalid Hashim said.
“These ships could be secondhand ships less than or equal to five years old or could be brand new resales that are getting ready at shipyards.”
The funds have been secured from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Export-Import Bank of Thailand and Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.
The IFC, which is a member of the World Bank group, is an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private-sector development in less-developed countries.
Aspects that qualify the loan as sustainability-linked include a requirement for the new vessels to be more fuel efficient than the average vessel in the Precious Shipping fleet and for the number of coal cargoes carried by each financed vessel subjected to certain caps.
Precious is also required to adhere to several IFC performance standards with compliance of each monitored and assessed annually by the financial institution.
The performance standards include assessment and management of environmental and social risks and impacts, labour and working conditions, resource efficiency and pollution prevention, community health, safety and security and biodiversity, conservation and sustainable management of living natural resources.
Precious is also required to develop and implement procedures related to final waste disposal by subcontractors, worker safety during shore leave, crew and community health and safety during shore leave, labour working conditions for contractors, gender aspects, biodiversity measures to manage the impact of its ships on sensitive coastal and marine ecosystems.
It is also required to put in place procedures for the prevention and redress of gender discrimination and gender-based violence and harassment.
Separately, Precious has recently reported a third-quarter net profit of $2.79m versus the $36.37m seen in the corresponding period last year.
The earnings per ship for the third quarter were $9,741 per day, lower than the figures of $11,424 per day and $19,840 per day recorded in the second quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2022, respectively.
