Russian shipping company Sovcomflot (SCF Group) has signed a new USD 149 million loan to finance the construction of a new generation 174,000 cbm Atlanticmax LNG carrier.
The 10-year long credit facility was secured by a consortium of three banks: ING Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, and Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.
“This is the fifth successful international debt financing accomplished by SCF Group in 2018, which further strengthens the Group’s liquidity position and, despite challenging conditions in the global financial and shipping markets, enables it to address its upcoming financial requirements,” Nikolay Kolesnikov, Senior Executive Vice-President & CFO of Sovcomflot, said.
The vessel will feature a slow-speed tri-fuel X-DF diesel engine and gas boil-off partial liquefaction system. The LNG carrier will operate on long-term charters with Total Group.
The company’s fleet includes 147 vessels with a total deadweight of 12.7 million tonnes. Out of these 80 vessels have an ice class, and 13 of them are gas carriers.