Seaspan Corp has clinched what it claims is the first green financing in the containership leasing industry.
The subsidiary of New York-listed Atlas Corp has arranged a sustainability-linked loan worth $200m, maturing over six years.
The package received a BBB- senior secured rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency in the US.
The financing forms part of an expanded overall loan portfolio consisting of $1.5bn in term lending and a $300m revolving credit facility. The lenders are Societe Generale and BNP Paribas in France.
The new cash will pay down the revolver, Seaspan said. This bolsters liquidity and capacity for growth opportunities, the company added.
Bing Chen, chief executive officer and interim chief financial officer at Atlas, said the move aligns Seaspan's long-standing commitment to sustainability with its capital structure strategy.
Focus on growth
"Our team has been consistently executing on quality growth and capital structure improvement through a difficult period for the global capital markets," he added.
Sustainability targets will be monitored by Sustainalytics, an independent provider of eco-research and ratings.
The deal complies with the Poseidon Principles, a framework for green ship financing devised by lenders.
Pricing of the loan will be adjusted based on Seaspan’s achievements measured against two key performance indicators.
The first aims to measure the alignment of the carbon intensity of the collateral vessels with the International Maritime Organization's 2050 decarbonisation goals.
The second is designed to foster cooperation with charterers to advance the decarbonisation agenda, by seeking to include sustainability-linked provisions in future charter contracts.
Fleet expanded
Matthew Tinari, head of corporate development at Seaspan, added: "We are excited to be in a position to drive innovation in both ship finance and sustainability-linked lending, which aligns with our corporate goals and key priorities for Seaspan."
The company owns 127 boxships of a combined 1.07m teu.
Last month, Seaspan said it was buying two 12,000-teu containerships that are both on long-term charters for about $176m in total.
Including the two latest purchases, TradeWinds estimates the shipowner has spent $1.1bn to buy 15 ships since September last year.
The latest two were both built in 2018 but were not identified by Seaspan.
TradeWinds later cited brokers as saying the 11,923-teu Kota Petani and Kota Pemimpinse were acquired from Singapore-based Pacific International Lines.
They will be employed on charters to Mediterranean Shipping Co and Hapag-Lloyd.