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Norway offering international owners financing on retrofit equipment

Norway offering international owners financing on retrofit equipment
Norway is offering credit to international shipowners who buy retrofit systems such as ballast water management from Norwegian suppliers.

Export Credit Norway it had assembled a specialised team and tailor-made financing solution to support vessel owners who need to retrofit equipment such as gas exhaust cleaning systems, ballast water treatment systems and new coating systems.

Export Credit Norway will offer up to 85% of the value of retrofit equipment purchased by international shipowners from Norway, with the equipment having to have a minimum of 30% Norwegian content. The maturity of loans will be between 5 – 8.5 years.

“Money is tight and access to reasonably priced capital is a challenge for many players in the international shipping and maritime industries at the moment. Hence, attractive financing of retrofit equipment could make the investment less demanding for many vessel owners,” said Olav Einar Rygg, Export Credit Norway’s director of lending, Ocean Industries.

Owners have complained about the lack of available financing for equipment required to meet new environmental regulations with as many as 60,000 vessels worldwide will need to retrofit scrubber systems by 2020 and ballast water treatment systems by 2021.

For owners looking to retrofit several vessels Export Credit Norway can offer a credit frame agreement to cover the entire fleet.

“Our aim is to make the financing process as smooth and efficient as possible, so that vessel owners can focus their time on core business. That is why we offer a credit frame agreement which essentially covers numerous vessel retrofits under the same loan facility,” said Rygg.