- Region: Europe
- Marine and Aerospace
- Export Loans
August 14, 2013
- The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC;Governor:Hiroshi Okuda) signed on August 13 a buyer's credit agreement totaling up to approximately 24.7 million U.S.dollars (JBIC portion) for funding the purchase of a large, unimax type ore carrier with Berge Blanc Company S.A. (Berge Blanc) incorporated in the Republic of Panama. Berge Blanc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore's leading shipping operator Berge Bulk Limited (Berge Bulk).*1 The loan is cofinanced with The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ (as lead arranger),with the overall cofinancing amount totaling approximately 49.4 million U.S.dollars.Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) provides Buyer's Credit Insurance for the portion cofinanced by a private financial institution.
- Berge Bulk, the ultimate purchaser of this vessel, is headquartered in Singapore and a ship operator boasting one of the world's major fleet scale of large bulk carriers.This loan is intended to finance Berge Blanc to purchase a 297,000 DWT unimax ore carrier built by Japan Marine United Corporation in the domestic shipyard.
- Amid continued constraints to structure ship financing across the world,this loan will provide financial support for the export of a ship built in a Japanese shipyard, thereby contributing to maintaining and improving the international competitiveness of the Japanese shipbuilding industry.
- JBIC will continue to actively support the export of ships built in Japanese shipyards,which perform a significant role in the regional economy, including their mid-tier enterprises as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, in cofinancing with private financial institutions and in partnership with the Shipbuilders' Association of Japan.