OAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) and ING BANK N.V. have signed a USD 75 million, 10 year project credit facility. The funds will be used towards financing two new LPG carriers (currently under construction at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co. Ltd), which will operate on long-term contracts with the Russian petrochemical company SIBUR. The carriers will transport LPG from SIBUR’s LPG and light oils transhipment terminal at the Ust-Luga commercial sea port in the Baltic.
ING Bank has acted as the sole mandated lead arranger for this project facility, which has a non-recourse structure and a favourable long-term tenor as well as competitive pricing reflecting robustness of the deal structure and the credit quality of the Russian charterers SIBUR. The vessels will be owned through Sovcomflot's newly established SCF Gas Carriers Ltd. holding company.
Mr. Christopher Steane, Global Head of Lending Services at ING, Mr. Gerald Walker, CEO for the UK, Ireland and Middle East at ING, Mr. Stephen Fewster, Global Head of Transportation Finance at ING; Mr. Sergey Frank, SCF Group’s President and CEO; and Mr. Nikolay Kolesnikov Senior Executive Vice-President and CFO participated in the signing ceremony in London.
Nikolai Kolesnikov, Senior Executive Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, said:
“SCF Group and ING Bank have enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship, almost since the time of Sovcomflot’s incorporation, and so we are pleased to conclude a new long-term credit deal in SCF Group's 25th anniversary year. This is another successful financing transaction, following on from others in recent years, which demonstrates SCF Group's continued access to debt capital throughout the shipping cycle and further strengthens the Group’s liquidity position. We are grateful to ING and all our financial partners for their ongoing support towards the growth of our business.”
Stephen Fewster, Managing Director and Global Head of Transportation Finance at ING said:
“We are pleased to have supported SCF Group’s business for over two decades. Today Sovcomflot as one of the world's leading energy shipping companies, is our strategic client. ING is currently growing its shipping portfolio on a very selective basis and only with the strongest companies, such as Sovcomflot. We support the Group's strategy to concentrate on gas and offshore projects and are delighted to be part of this new LPG business with SIBUR, which is also an important client of ING. We hope to continue our fruitful cooperation with Sovcomflot and look forward to new opportunities for the development of our business.”
LNG and LPG shipping is a strategic priority segment for OAO Sovcomflot, which is reflected in SCF’s development strategy-2017. The Sovcomflot gas carrier fleet currently includes eight vessels: six LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers and two LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) carriers. SCF Group’s shipbuilding programme provides for the addition of a further six vessels – expanding the company’s gas fleet to 14 tankers. SCF’s gas carriers operate on long-term contracts with well-known gas companies and projects, such as: Sakhalin Energy; Tangguh; Gas Natural; Transammonia, and others. All of the vessels currently under construction have already been assigned to operations on long-term agreements with the world’s largest gas companies – Gazprom Global LNG, Shell and SIBUR. The company’s longstanding experience of oil & gas shipping in challenging, ice conditions means SCF can offer effective year-round LNG transportation solutions for even the most complex projects, including the new Arctic projects on Russia’s continental shelf.
Sovcomflot Group (SCF) is Russia’s largest shipping company. It is a world leader in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons and provides support for shelf exploration and oil & gas production. The SCF fleet (owned and chartered) includes 160 vessels with a combined deadweight of over 12 million tonnes. It specialises in the transportation of hydrocarbons from areas with challenging icy conditions and a third of the fleet’s vessels have a high ice class. Sovcomflot supports large-scale offshore energy projects in Russia and the rest of the world, including: Sakhalin-I, Sakhalin-II, Varandey, Tangguh, Escobar, and Peregrino. The company is registered in Saint-Petersburg and has representative offices in: Moscow; Novorossiysk; Murmansk; Vladivostok; London; Limassol; Madrid; Singapore and Dubai.