Banks still lend healthy shipping companies
Inside Shipping, January 2012 Sunday, January 15th, 2012
Bank lending is still the main source of raising capital in shipping industry despite the huge problems of liquidity faed by the banks involved in the ship finance.
However, a certain number of banks proceed to anticyclical financing securing remarkable profits due to higher interest rates and margins.
Another positive development is that Greek owners may have cut down on orders for conventional ships this year but they have boosted their spending on newbuildings by some 20% with investment in gas carriers, containerships and special project rocketing.
Greek shipowners are committed over $8.5bn to newbuidlings, as compared with $7bn in the same period of 2010. According to Golden Destiny they pumped $3bn into orders for 46 containerships and a similar amount on 22 gas tankers. The figures could be higher. Where the decrease in orders is most obvious is in the sectors that have traditionally been the bread and butter of Greek shipping, tankers and dry bulkers.
Full article, ELNAVI, Issue 457 -January 2012, Page. 8
Read also this article in : Greek
