Geneva-based shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Company SA (MSC) has secured financing of US$439 million to equip its fleet with 86 exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) in view of IMO’s 2020 sulphur cap.
In particular, the loan will be used to finance the manufacturing and installation of the scrubbers onboard 86 container ships owned by the MSC group in light of the implementation of the IMO’s low sulphur cap regulations in 2020.
IMO’s sulphur cap, to take effect from 1 January 2020, mandates that ships must run on fuel containing no more than 0.5% m/m of sulphur, unless having scrubbers installed.
Law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised French BNP Paribas (BNPP) as coordinating bank and agent, together with a syndicate of four other banks as lenders, in connection with the SINOSURE-backed financing for the MSC.
We are very pleased to have advised BNPP and the other lenders on this milestone deal, which marks the first scrubber financing between the parties highlighting MSC’s environmental commitment and its firm support by the lenders in light of the new IMO-2020 sulphur cap,
…Finance Partner Alexia Russell commented.
From 1 January 2019, the shipping company has introduced a new Global Fuel Surcharge to help customers plan for the impact of the post-2020 fuel regime, as announced in September.
BNP Paribas has been intensively engaged in green finance over the last years. In late 2017, the European Investment Bank and BNP Baribas agreed to finance EUR150 million worth of vessel modernization to help companies to green their fleets.
