Global shipowners may get more loans

Credit to shipowners will increase over two years, according to a survey carried out by Petrofin SA.
Of the world’s 27 top ship finance banks surveyed, 42 per cent expected an increase in lending to shipowners within 12 months, Mr Ted Petropoulos, Petrofin Managing Director, revealed at a Seatrade/Tradewinds conference. Some 31 per cent expected a rise in lending over one to two years.
Owners of merchant ships face a funding shortfall of $ 20-$ 30 billion a year after lending shrank following the financial crisis, according to Nordea Bank AB.

The 27 banks account for $ 287.7 billion in shipping loans, or 70 per cent of the world’s total shipping loan portfolio, Mr Petropoulos elaborated.

According to the survey, 29.6 per cent of the bankers saw the size of the shipping loan portfolio at their own institutions staying at the same size in 2010 while almost 26 per cent saw a reduction of as much as 10 per cent.

These forecasts seem to contradict expectations of a rise in lending for the 27 banks as a whole, he said.
Many bankers try to talk down ship financing to get shipowners to cancel orders for newbuildings so that their institutions can later loan at increased rates, Exim News Service informs.

Source: Transport Weekly