UASC secures financing for mega ship order

UASC secures financing for mega ship order    Liner carrier United Arab Shipping Co. said Tuesday it has secured $302 million term loan facility to finance the acquisition of three 13,100 TEU vessels.
   The vessels are the remaining three out of an order of nine such vessels, which the carrier calls A13 ships. The loan is being financed by the Export Import Bank of Korea (70 percent) and a coalition of BNP Paribas, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Ahli United Bank (30 percent). The ships are being built at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.
   'Less than three months separate us from the delivery of our first A13 on order, and concluding this facility reaffirms UASC's steadfast commitments towards growing its fleet's capacity to better service the region and our customers from around the world,' said J'rn Hinge, UASC president and chief executive officer.
   The combined cost of the nine is vessels is $1.5 billion, with UASC having already secured $1.1 billion in financing with regional and international banks.
   'The fleet of A13s will significantly improve UASC's cost-base and enable it to compete head-to-head with other industry majors,' the line said.
   UASC is the 20th-largest liner carrier in the world, with 217,872 TEUs of fleet capacity, according to maritime news service Alphaliner. It has nearly 118,000 TEUs of capacity on order.