Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed a transition-linked loan to finance “one of the world’s largest” liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels and the first one to be based in France, Gas Vitality.
As informed, the loan is provided by French multinational investment bank and financial services company Societe Generale (SocGen) and Japanese multinational banking institution Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation which are acting as lenders and co-sustainability coordinators.
The loan’s structure is in line with a transition finance framework and a sustainability-linked instrument. DNV Business Assurance Japan, as an external review organization, has evaluated the eligibility of the framework and the eligibility of the Japanese shipping firm. Specifically, the DNV provided an eligibility assessment for the framework by applying sustainability-linked loan principles and guidelines.
The bunkering vessel, owned by MOL’s subsidiary Emerald Blue Maritime, comes as a result of the company’s second collaboration with Chinese Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and TotalEnergies Marine Fuels. The firms held the naming ceremony for the 18,000-cbm newbuild last week.
Source: World Maritime News
