zoomIllustration; Image Courtesy: Seaspan Corp.

Certain subsidiaries of CMB Financial Leasing (CMBFL) have obtained a senior loan facility worth USD 318 million for the acquisition of five 11,000 TEU newbuildings, law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) informed.

The containerships will be bareboat chartered upon delivery to Seaspan Corporation, a NYSE-listed container management company, and then sub-chartered to “a leading global container shipping company”.

The loan proceeds will be used by CMBFL, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, to finance the acquisition of the vessels under said leases on delivery, according to WFW.

As explained, the vessels are being built by Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Philippines.

“The delivery and drawdown for the first vessel was achieved to a tight deadline and there were various uncontrollable factors to contend with, including unstable weather conditions in Asia at the time,” WFW said.

The syndicate was led and co-ordinated by Citibank N.A. and co-arranged by Dekabank Deutsche Girozentrale. Development Bank of Japan acted as mandated lead arrangers and E-Sun Commercial Bank (Hong Kong), KEB Hana Bank, London as lead arrangers. The syndicate of lenders included South Korea’s Export Credit Agency (ECA) KEXIM as well as the banks who co-arranged the transaction. KEXIM also supported the commercial lenders’ participation in the facility by way of a guarantee.

“This deal highlights that collaboration between financial institutions and ECA in supporting the active Chinese leasing community is crucial to the on-going capital intensive needs of key players in the maritime sector,” Christoforos Bisbikos, Partner at WFW Hong Kong, commented.

World Maritime News contacted Seaspan Corporation for more details on the matter, however, the company is yet to reply.