New source of green ship funding

A EUR 420 million fund has been set up by Prow Capital to provide a new source of finance for shipowners undertaking retrofits or contracting new vessels that can demonstrate measurable emissions reductions. The Green Shipping Fund has been structured and arranged in close cooperation with Banco Santander SA with support from financial services company FPG AIM.

The management team at Amsterdam-based Prow, which was established in 2020, is led by Menno van Lacum who has 20 years of experience at ship finance institutions including MeesPierson, Fortis Bank and Transportation Capital Group. Loans are likely to range in size from EUR 15 million to EUR 50 million and will have to meet strict eligibility criteria, Prow said in a statement, including a requirement to outperform relevant emission regulations. They will provide senior secured debt finance, both for pre- and post-delivery projects in the short- and deep-sea sectors, to owners located in Europe.

Commenting on the development, Menno van Lacum said: “We are driven by the scale of the impact we can make. Against a backdrop of worldwide de-leveraging, retrenchment of sector banks, and increasing international urgency to tackle climate change, we are providing a new approach to ship financing, working collaboratively to deliver green deals to meet the industry’s drive to reduce its impact on the planet.”