Demonstrating the confidence in the LNG market and the shipping lines involved, a complex cross-border financing of two 2008-built LNG carriers totalling US$155M was recently completed
Owned by joint venture companies belonging to NYK Line, Sovcomflot Group (SCF Group), and Samudera Shipping Line Ltd, the two LNG carriers, sister ships Tangguh Batur and Tangguh Towuti service the Tangguh LNG plant in Indonesia. The plant began LNG exports in 2009 and has a designated annual output of extracted gas of 7.6M tonnes, which is exported to China, South Korea and Mexico, as well as used domestically.
International law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Japan’s MUFG Bank as facility and security agent, and Development Bank of Japan Inc as lenders on two non-recourse credit facilities totalling US$155M for the international, cross-border refinancing of the two LNG carriers. The loans comprise tranches with tenors of four and eight years.
Both Tangguh Batur and Tangguh Towuti have been recognised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore’s Green Ship Programme for attaining Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) certification.
Sister vessels Tangguh Batur and Tangguh Towuti each have an overall length of 285.4 m, beam of 43.4 m, depth of 26 m, with a draught of 11.5 m. The Singapore-flag vessels were built in 2008 by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering with a capacity of 145,700 m3 and are under the technical management of SCF Management Services (Cyprus) Ltd – NYK Line.
The three shipping lines are major players in the LNG market. NYK Line is a global shipping company operating more than 700 vessels including 78 LNG carriers. With a fleet of 145 vessels, including 14 LNG carriers, SCF Group is Russia’s largest shipping company. Samudera Shipping is the regional container shipping company servicing the Indian sub-continent, southeast Asia, the Far East and the Middle East.
The cross-border WFW Maritime team that advised the lenders was led by London partner Gary Walsh, who commented “The transaction demonstrates the market’s confidence in the joint venture partners, and underlines WFW’s longstanding reputation a leading legal expert in the LNG space and its experience with complex cross-border financing.”
Riviera is producing a range of technical and operational webinars and virtual events with the industry’s foremost experts. Sign up to attend on our events page
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.