Anthony Verder Announces "First Sustainable Shipping Loan"

A €66 million Euro Private Placement concluded for an Anthony Verder LNG carrier is said to be the "first sustainable shipping loan."

Anthony Veder Group (Anthony Veder), along with ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (ABN AMRO) and Delta Lloyd Asset Management (Delta Lloyd), Friday announced the "first sustainable shipping loan," a €66 million ($71.59 million) Euro Private Placement that was concluded for an Anthony Verder liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier in Q4 2015.

The loan is said to have been arranged to support the building of Anthony Verder's 18,000 cubic metre (cbm) Ice Class 1A Super LNG carrier, Coral EnergICE, which uses cargo boil off to fuel the vessel's propulsion.

"This is a unique deal. ABN AMRO and Delta Lloyd are the first financial institutions to perform a thorough sustainability assessment of a ship design during the loan approval process. Investing in clean ships is a key driver for enhancing the environmental development of the maritime industry and sets a good example for other banks and investors," said Merijn Hougee of the Clean Shipping Index.

The loan is said to be fully certified in accordance with Bureau Veritas S.A.'s (Bureau Veritas') Clean Shipping Index Guidelines, while the sustainable credentials of the transaction have also been similarly verified.

Certification of the financing is said to have come as a result of Anthony Veder's "dedication to sustainable shipping," the vessel's environmentally-friendly design, and the use of emissions reducing LNG, which was sourced in Finland by Gasum Oy and Skangas AS.

The loan is structured as a 20 year European Private Placement.

"This is a landmark transaction in the global shipping industry which to date, has not joined the ranks of verified sustainable financing," the companies said.

In June, it was reported that Anthony Veder Gas Carriers B.V. had signed an agreement with Gasum Oy (Gasum) for a long-term timecharter of a new "state of the art", 18,000 cbm, LNG powered vessel.