Pacific Basin secures $350m in ECA financing for newbuilds

These include 12 Handysize and six Handymax bulk carriers which are to be built at various yards in Japan and one Japanese-owned yard in China.

The loans under the facility will be drawn after the delivery of the vessels, scheduled between mid-2015 and mid-2017, Pacific Basin said in a statement.The $350m facility has been arranged with Japan Bank for International Cooperation with: Citibank Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ as co-lenders for various portions of the loan. All three portions will be secured by insurance from Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.

“This new financing represents attractive funding which we consider beneficial to our shareholders and supplements $314m of loans we secured in 2013 in the form of ECA and commercial bank loans. We retain a healthy balance sheet with net gearing at 31 December 2013 of 34% and a cash position that offers both protection and continued buying power to support selective further ship acquisitions should attractive opportunities arise,” said cfo Andrew Broomhead.