WFW and Hogan Lovells advise on US$1.5bn+ Hapag-Lloyd green ship financings

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) and Hogan Lovells collectively suggested on three separate inexperienced ship financing transactions with an mixture worth of US$1.5bn+. All three transactions, certainly one of which was secured by Chinese language ECA Sinosure, have been carried out in accordance with the Inexperienced Mortgage Ideas of the Mortgage Market Affiliation. WFW suggested arrangers, financing banks and inexperienced mortgage arranger, with Hogan Lovells appearing for Hapag-Lloyd.

In October 2024, Hapag-Lloyd signed two orders for a complete of 24 container ships with two Chinese language shipyards. Twelve ships with a capability of 16,800 TEU shall be constructed by the Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, which shall be used for capability expansions to current providers. An extra twelve vessels with a capability of 9,200 TEU have been ordered from New Instances Shipbuilding Firm Ltd. and can substitute older items in Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet which might be approaching the top of their service life this decade.

The three inexperienced ship financings comprise:

a US$1.1bn inexperienced time period mortgage, backed by Sinosure, to finance the development of six of the twelve 16,800 TEU and two of the twelve 9,200 TEU newbuilding container vessels. HSBC Continental Europe acted as ECA coordinator, inexperienced mortgage arranger and arranger for a syndicate of banks consisting of BNP Paribas, BNP Paribas Fortis, Citibank, Crédit Agricole CIB, DZ Financial institution, ING Financial institution and SMBC;
a US$280.8m bilateral inexperienced time period mortgage to finance the development of three of the twelve 9,200 TEU newbuild vessels with KfW IPEX-Financial institution because the financing financial institution; and
a US$201m bilateral inexperienced time period mortgage to finance the development of two of the twelve 9,200 TEU newbuild vessels with Financial institution of America Europe Designated Exercise Firm because the financing financial institution.

The cross-border WFW Property & Structured Finance group that suggested the arrangers and financing banks was led by London Property Associate Maren Brandes.

The Hogan Lovells Frankfurt Company & Finance group advising Hapag-Lloyd was led by Frankfurt Associate Bianca Engelmann.

Maren commented: “We’re delighted to have suggested KfW IPEX-Financial institution and Financial institution of America on these ground-breaking inexperienced loans which can drive the conversion of Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet to environmentally pleasant know-how and exhibit an actual dedication by the delivery business to cut back world carbon emissions. They opted for WFW to advise on them on these big-ticket, strategic transactions due to our maritime apply’s world-leading popularity in addition to our in depth earlier expertise in advising on ECA-backed transactions for Hapag-Lloyd”.

Bianca added: “These landmark investments, among the many largest in Hapag-Lloyd’s current historical past, underline its dedication to continued rising while additionally modernising its fleet when it comes to ship measurement and sustainability. We’re delighted to have as soon as once more suggested Hapag-Lloyd on their inexperienced ship financings, bringing to bear our deep understanding of their enterprise and financing wants in addition to of the inexperienced financing markets”.