A combination of booming shipping markets, hungry equity investors and a need for climate action could yet turn into a gold rush around the capital markets. A rash of initial public offerings has excited investment bankers and shipowners alike after a public financing drought that long-preceded the chaos of Covid-19.
Earlier this year saw the flotations of Israeli-based liner operator Zim in New York and dry bulk business Taylor Maritime Investments in London.
These were seen as "one-off, blue chip" events at the centre of buoyant freight sectors that would not be easily replicated by others.
But with equity markets still riding high and cash-rich investors looking for new opportunities plus a post-COP26 "green" focus, the wider capital market door is increasingly ajar.
The joyous atmosphere in the financial sector was captured by my colleague Joe Brady in his report from the Marine Money annual New York autumn forum.
The fact that the money men — and they are largely men of course — were physically in the same room en masse for the first time since the pandemic began, brought an air of relief, celebration and optimism.
The "band was back together" — as the conference organizers put it — and the "musicians" are not just playing old hits but seem keen to try out new numbers — coloured green for environmentalism.
The most potent symbol of the current fervour in global shipping and financial circles was provided by the other side of the Atlantic, the Edda Wind flotation.
This was meant to close last week on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Instead, shares went on sale at 9am on 16 November and were oversubscribed 15 minutes later, bringing Edda Wind $116m in double-quick time.
This was followed up by another Norwegian IPO with Hoegh Autoliners also selling out its $118m-worth of new shares within minutes of the kick-off.
Edda Wind ticked every box for investors in the sense that it is a business designed to provide purpose-built vessels to serve the booming offshore wind farm market.
It came to the market with two big brand shipping names behind it in Norwegian owners the Wilhelmsen group and the Ostensjo family.
And the announcement that John Fredriksen's Gerveran Trading, Idan Ofer’s Xclat Holdings and Nordea Investment Management had bought into the business the week before the IPO just put pink icing on an already pretty cake.
Bold ambitions
The money is being raised to fund an ambitious newbuilding fleet scheme not only to serve new market demand for specialist wind tonnage but also vessels specifically built with low carbon propulsion systems.
Hoegh too had a lot in its favour, not least again having an illustrious history in car-carrying and combining the Norwegian Hoegh family holdings with Denmark’s top shipping name, AP Moller-Maersk.
The glamour of the Hoegh and Edda Wind floats compared with a more mundane offering in Oslo at the start of this month by another Norwegian company, Gram Car Carriers.
That was a flop although Gram insists it will be back in "weeks rather than months" with a rejigged IPO.
Certainly car carriers, like wind vessels, are in the limelight. There is huge demand around new road transport, particularly electric vehicles, again aimed at cutting carbon emissions and combating global heating.
Monaco-based but New York-listed maritime wind services "newbie" Eneti also discovered some hard truths when it was forced to scale back by 36% the price of its own recent share float.
The company, led by chief executive Emanuele Lauro and which formerly traded as Scorpio Bulkers, raised $175m which is being used to construct new ships to work in the renewable sector.
But major investors made clear they would only come on board if the price was lowered.
Meanwhile, alongside these more traditional IPOs has been Fredriksen filing for a $250m green energy special purpose acquisition company, or Spac, and Maersk’s unveiling of its first green shipping bond.
There is no doubt that more flotations are on their way in Europe and the US, but you still have to have the right offering in terms of ships and management at the right price.
As Axel Kalinowski at the London Stock Exchange told the Norton Rose Fulbright conference on IPOs in shipping recently, to be successful “you need to make sure everyone (investor) is leaving with a balloon and a smile”.
