Container shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has secured a USD 439 million financing to fit 86 exhaust gas cleaning system (EGCS) to its fleet.
According to the law company Watson Farley & Williams (WFW), BNP Paribas (BNPP) was the co-ordinating bank and agent on the agreement, together with a syndicate of four other banks as lenders.
The SINOSURE-backed loan would be used to finance the manufacturing and installation of the scrubbers on board 86 container ships owned by the MSC group in light of the implementation of the International Maritime Organisation’s low sulphur cap regulations in 2020.
According to data provided by VesselsValue, the shipping firm has almost 200 container ships in its fleet, including ULCVs, Post-Panamaxes, Panamaxes, Sub-Panamax vessels, Handy container ships and Feedermaxes.
As part of its preparations for the 2020 sulphur cap, in September 2018 Mediterranean Shipping Company unveiled its plans to introduce a new fuel adjustment surcharge. The Global Fuel Surcharge was scheduled to be implemented as of January 1, 2019.
The company earlier said that the cost of various changes to the fleet and its fuel supply could be in excess of USD 2 billion per year.
The new International Maritime Organization (IMO) Low Sulphur Regulation will be effective from January 1, 2020 and would require all shipping companies to reduce their sulphur emissions by 85%, limiting the sulphur content in fuel used for international shipping to 0.5%, compared with the current standard of 3.5%.
