EMEA News
Hapag-Lloyd Secures Funding for 24 LNG-Fuelled Boxships
German container line Hapag-Lloyd has secured $4 billion in financing to fully fund the construction of 24 LNG-fuelled boxships ordered with two Chinese shipyards in October 2024.
The newbuilds will have a combined capacity of 312,000 TEUs and are ammonia-ready, meaning they could be retrofitted to run on ammonia in the future, Hapag-Lloyd said in a statement on its website.
The $4 billion financing includes four parts: $900 million from Hapag-Lloyd’s own funds, $500 million in bilateral mortgage loans from two banks, $1.8 billion through three leasing structures, and $1.1 billion via a syndicated loan backed by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation.
The financing covers about 80% of the total investment, with maturities ranging from 10 to 18 years.
“The financing will be carried out on the basis of Hapag-Lloyd’s Green Financing Framework, which in turn complies with the standards of the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association (LMA),” Hapag-Lloyd.
Several environmental NGOs have criticized the use of green funding for the construction of LNG-fuelled ships. However, LNG-fuelled can burn cleaner LNG alternatives such as bio-LNG, which could reduce some of its environmental impact.
