Capital Product Partners Secures USD 460 Mn Loan

Greek shipping company Capital Product Partners has entered into a firm offer letter for a new senior secured term loan facility worth USD 460 million.

The term load was signed with a syndicate of lenders led by HSH Nordbank and ING Bank as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners and BNP Paribas and National Bank of Greece as arrangers.

Capital Product Partners informed that it has now formally entered into the loan agreement documenting the new facility.

The company said t would use the net proceeds of the loan, together with available cash, to refinance its indebtedness under its 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2013 credit facilities during the fourth quarter of 2017.

The partnership currently owns 36 vessels, including 21 MR product tankers, four Suezmax crude oil tankers, 10 Neo Panamax container vessels and one Capesize bulk carrier.

https://logisticyy.livejournal.com/1578.html

Meyer Werft Lays Keel for AIDAnova

Miami-based cruise company Carnival Corporation has held a keel-laying ceremony of the first ship of its new liquefied natural gas (LNG) generation, AIDAnova, which will be delivered by Meyer Werft Papenburg in fall 2018.

The 180,000 gross ton AIDAnova, which will be the 13th member in AIDA’s fleet, will be traveling Madeira and the Canary Islands for seven-day cruises from December 2018 in its first season. German cruise line AIDA Cruises ordered the ship in summer 2015, as part of a deal for two next-generation cruise ships.

With the ceremony, held at Seatrade Europe in Hamburg, the company officially launched the construction of its seven next-generation cruise ships that will be fully-powered by LNG.

“Today marked a significant milestone in the construction of this next-generation of Carnival Corporation ships featuring our ‘green cruising’ design, which will be the most environmentally friendly ships in our company’s history,” Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corporation,said.

Pioneering a new era in the use of low-carbon fuels, these new ships will be the first in the cruise industry that can use LNG to generate 100 percent of their power both in port and on the open sea. The ships, with delivery dates between 2018 and 2022, will be built by leading German and Finnish shipbuilders Meyer Werft and Meyer Turku.

Following the introduction of AIDAnova in 2018, Carnival Corporation’s Costa Cruises brand will debut the industry’s next cruise ship that can be powered completely by LNG on the open seas in 2019 – the first steel-cutting ceremony for this ship is scheduled at the Meyer Turku shipyard in the coming week.

LNG-powered ships for Carnival Cruise Line and P&O Cruises (UK) will follow in 2020. Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises will each receive an additional LNG-powered ship in 2021, followed by an additional LNG-powered ship for Carnival Cruise Line in 2022.

https://logisticyy.livejournal.com/1458.html

DMSE in Talks to Delay Delivery of LNG Carrier Duo

South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) said in a stock exchange filing that it was in discussions on changes to the delivery schedule for a liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier pair.

The two ships were ordered by an unnamed European owner in October 2014 and were supposed to be delivered by the end of August this year.

DSME said the owner asked for the delivery to be pushed, but specific details on the new delivery dates were not released as talks are yet to be finalized.

The two LNG tankers were bought for KRW 428.6 billion (USD 379 million).

Separately, on September 4, the shipbuilder inked a contract with compatriot shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) for the construction of five VLCCs.

The contract for 300,000 DWT very large crude carriers, worth KRW 470 billion (USD 418 million) includes options for five more vessels.

The ships are scheduled to join their owner’s fleet by 2019.

https://logisticyy.livejournal.com/1118.html

HMM Launches USD 580 Mn Shopping Spree

South Korean shipping company Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) is moving forward with its plans to modernize fleet and has set sights on adding seven ships with options for five more.

Specifically, HMM will acquire two large container vessels at a 10% lower price than the current market price as it eyes to bolster its fleet competitiveness.

Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction based in the Philippines has been hired for the job of building the ships.

The price tag for the boxship pair totals USD 162 million.

The company said that the two vessels are scheduled for delivery in May 2018 and are expected to be deployed on East Coast South America trade.

“HMM bolsters its competitiveness through the early acquisition of fuel efficient & eco-friendly large container vessels at a lower price than the current market price,” a company spokesperson commented.

What is more, HMM said that the company’s board of directors has finalized the plans to build five 300,000 DWT very large crude carriers (VLCC) at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

Under the letter of intent (LOI) HMM inked with DSME in April 2017, the order for the five VLCCs contains options for five more ships.

HMM further noted that it will invest KRW 470 billion (USD 418.9 million) in new facilities for the construction of the crude carriers.

As informed earlier, HMM will tap into the government’s financing program dubbed the New Shipbuilding Program to secure funds for the ship construction.  The South Korean government announced the financing scheme worth KRW 2.6 trillion (USD 2.28 billion) in October last year with the aim of helping the country’s shipping industry.

The company said the investment in crude carriers has been prompted by low newbuilding prices which have fallen to the lowest level since 2003.

“However, multi-country market research companies forecast a rebound in VLCC newbuilding price after 2019 as to the improvement of supply & demand in accordance with the deployment of fewernewbuildings, combined with increasing scrapping activity,” the company concluded.

The VLCCs are set for sequential delivery in the first half of 2019.

https://logisticyy.livejournal.com/977.html