Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) has set up a plan to issue unsecured corporate bonds in May in order to fund LNG-fueled and LNG bunkering vessels.
With the ‘Green Bonds’ issuance, amounting to 10 billion yen ($93.4 million) within the Japanese domestic market in May, NYK Line would become the world’s first company to issue labeled Green Bonds in global shipping business sector.
The move is part of the company’s medium-term management plan, with the proceeds to be funneled into the development of LNG-fueled vessels, LNG bunkering vessels, ballast water treatment equipment, and sulfur oxides (SOx) scrubber systems.
NYK noted its Green Bonds have been given the approval as “a model case for the Green Bonds issuance in the fiscal year 2018” by Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan (MOEJ), for the first Japanese industrial corporation.
The company will participate in a shipping industry working group to be established by the Climate Bonds Initiative and will cooperate in formulating evaluation criteria for Green Bonds issued by shipping companies.
The Climate Bonds Initiative is an international, investor-focused not-for-profit working to mobilize bond markets for climate change solutions.