SMM Ship Finance Forum Set to Start

At the SMM Ship Finance Forum just ahead of SMM, the leading international maritime trade fair hamburg, experts will discuss the potential and prospects for new ship financing models.

SMM Ship Finance Forum Set to Start

In spite of low newbuilding prices, the total number of ship orders is declining around the world. Financing difficulties are part of the problem, and new concepts are in demand to revitalise the market.

“In ship finance we have to address two separate issues: On the one hand, we need to put the fleet in service on a more solid financial basis. After a five-year double crisis – one affecting the financial, the other the shipping markets – that may be a tall order. On the other hand we need to finance new tonnage to be commissioned over the next few years. In the wake of the crisis, this often calls for new partners and new conditions,” says Dr Max Johns, Managing Director of the German Shipowners Association (Verband Deutscher Reeder, VDR) and member of the Advisory Board of SMM.

Distinguished Experts

Under the motto, “A New Beginning”, the Ship Finance Forum 2014, held one day ahead of the fair, will address global financing issues facing the shipbuilding and shipping industries. Top-flight industry experts will discuss current opportunities and challenges.

SMM is a major technology trend-setter for the shipping industry: We are dealing with enormous challenges, such as the emission control areas and the ballast water convention. SMM will surely offer inspiring insight on both topics,” VDR Managing Director Johns says. After all, both of these challenges are associated with substantial capital investments.

Three Overarching Topics

The SMM Ship Finance Forum will focus on three overarching topics: The first part will look at current developments in the German market. US investors are entering the German market in increasing numbers, primarily seeking to invest in newbuilding projects. Yet, conventional bank financing schemes continue to be in demand, as well. A Norwegian-German group of investors has established a new ship financing bank recently.

The second topical segment, titled “Shipyards: Financing Shipbuilding, Financing Exports”, will examine the efforts of many shipyards to finance exports. Part 3 (“Global Financing Trends – Bonds, Leasing, IPOS”) will highlight alternative financing models in the market which compete with traditional schemes.

Blue Sea – Blue Wonder

The SMM Ship Finance Forum will also address the protection of the maritime environment. SMM has adopted the logo of the German Federal Government’s initiative “The Sea, Our Blue Wonder”. The ambiguity of the German term “blaues Wunder”, blue wonder, which also means “shocking experience”, alludes to the threatened maritime environment. The initiative awards projects across all of Germany aimed at raising awareness of the importance of healthy seas for the global climate, the economy and the well-being of humanity.

In 2014, Germany will host the annual “European Maritime Day (EMD)” for the first time, providing an excellent opportunity to encourage the public discussion of maritime policy, biological diversity and the complexity of maritime ecosystems and their interaction with human civilisation. This topic will figure prominently in both, the SMM Ship Finance Forum and the SMM itself.

 

[mappress]
Press Release, February 13, 2014