Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and classification society ClassNK have established “Zero-Emission Accelerating Ship Finance (program)” to support the maritime industry’s transition toward decarbonization.
As tightened environmental regulations and the future introduction of carbon pricing are expected in the maritime industry, DBJ and ClassNK have anticipated an increasing need for a system to reasonably evaluate the asset value of environmentally friendly ships and to combine them with investment and financing.
Under the established program, ClassNK evaluates ships based on a comprehensive scoring model jointly developed by DBJ from the perspective of “decarbonization, environmentally friendly performance, and innovativeness,” and DBJ provides investment and financing.
As the first project under the program, ClassNK evaluated the 84,000 cbm LPG dual-fueled large LPG carrier Crystal Oasis, owned by Kumiai Navigation and DBJ provided a loan to Kumiai to finance its acquisition.
Kumiai is a Japanese shipowner based in Singapore and has been taking progressive steps toward the transition to decarbonization, such as placing orders for LPG dual-fueled LPG carriers ahead of other industry players.
The ship is an LPG dual-fueled large LPG carrier built at Sakaide Works of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and delivered to Kumiai in June 2022.
In evaluating the ship, the following factors were taken into account:
The ship was given with “S” rating, the highest rank in the program as “the ship with particularly high decarbonization, environmentally friendly performance and innovativeness”, recognizing that adequate environment-related investments have been made.
Through the expansion of the program, DBJ and ClassNK will support shipping companies’ efforts to contribute to the transition toward decarbonization and work together to accelerate the transition toward decarbonization in the entire maritime industry.