KfW IPEX-Bank Invests Big in River-Cruise Ships

KfW IPEX-Bank is financing the construction of another twelve Viking Longship-class river-cruise ships for the renowned Swiss-American river-cruise line Viking River Cruises (VRC).

The financing, which has a maturity of 8.5 years, totals EUR 288.9 million. It encompasses export credit insurance by the German government (Hermes cover) and the favourable Commercial Interest Reference Rate (CIRR).

All the ships will be built at Neptun Werft in Rostock/Warnemünde, a yard that specialises in the construction of river-cruise ships and a sister company of Meyer Werft, and will be delivered in the spring of 2015. By providing this financing, KfW IPEX-Bank is continuing its excellent long-term cooperation with VRC and the Meyer Group.

Between 2011 and 2013, the three business partners together oversaw the construction of a total of 25 river-cruise ships, with 15 of these already delivered.

Thanks to this large follow-up order, the Neptun shipyard will immediately be able to redeploy the construction capacity that will become available once it has delivered the latest ships, and thereby ensure that the yard will be operating profitably for another year.

[mappress]
Press Release, February 7, 2014