Friday 21 April 2017

Green shipping in Europe gets €150m boost

A €150 million (£125.4m) agreement to finance green shipping in Europe is being signed today.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Dutch bank ABN Amro aim to support investments by offering promoters of sustainable projects in the sector favourable financial terms.

This framework is the first of its kind in partnership with a financial institution in the Netherlands.

The finance facility is open for both the retrofitting of existing ships as well as for projects hoping to construct new types of green and innovative vessels.

Projects will need to improve the environmental performance of transport ships by reducing pollutants and increasing fuel efficiency.

EIB Vice President Pim van Ballekom said: "The bank received a clear signal from the market that there was a financing gap for the greening of shipping fleets.

"By allowing the EIB to take more risk, the Investment Plan for Europe enabled us to create a new instrument to support shipping companies in complying with the European sustainability standards."

The Energy Technologies Institute is developing a tool to demonstrate the green performance of shipping vessels.