Ahrenkiel Lands 8 Boxships

German shipowner Ahrenkiel Steamship has bought eight container ships from HSH Nordbank’s Nautilus credit portfolio.

The parties involved have agreed not to disclose the exact purchase prices of the vessels and the identities of the sellers; however, the total value of the transaction is in the three-digit million US dollar range.

The portfolio comprises of four 4,300 TEU, so called ”Baby-Panamax” vessels, as well as four feeder ships in the 1,300 to 2,500 TEU range. The average age of the vessels is around seven years. The first four ships have already been handed over to Ahrenkiel Steamship. Four more are due to follow in the coming weeks and months

“The acquisition of the eight vessels strengthens our position in the container market,” said Constantin Baack, Managing Director of Ahrenkiel Steamship. “We expect to see growing consolidation in the shipping markets. We at Ahrenkiel Steamship have set ourselves the goal of actively participating in this phase and raising our competitiveness even further.”

Under the Nautilus financing model, HSH Nordbank remains involved in the new structure via a part of the credit amount.

This gives the bank the opportunity of benefiting from a market improvement and – depending on overall market trends – recover the original credit amount at a later point of time. At the same time, Nautilus enables HSH Nordbank to significantly reduce its risks.

The German bank expects further Nautilus transactions in 2015.