Page 157 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2023

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dance with local law requirements and formalities.
Much has been said about the events leading up to
UBS’s recent acquisition of Credit Suisse (reported
to be the biggest lender to Greek shipping and Monitoring crew
the 10th largest ship lender overall) and of the
expected impact this might have on the shipping well-being and
finance market. The events can be seen from a
glass half empty or half full perspective. Some have
issued stark warnings of what is to come or what ship sanitation in
could have been but others have focused on how
quickly the Central Bank reacted and the reassur- more than 330
ing messages that have been provided. It is clear
that no rushed decisions are being made and the ports world wide
fact that the financing is invariably tied to deposits
(and therefore the wealth management business)
could act as a strong disincentive to selling the
portfolio. It remains to be seen whether a bank that For more info, please contact:
has so far not been invested in the sector will see gr.marineservices@sgs.com
this as an opportunity to develop that expertise
further by taking on new business and onboarding
new clients going forward.
Additionally, the closure of HSBC’s Greek office
marks the departure of a prominent lender to the
Greek shipping market. Its portfolio has been
reported to have been successfully transferred to
other banks, which is a good indicator but means
that its former clients will have to look elsewhere
for their financing needs going forward.
On the other hand, a large number of financiers
have familiarized themselves with the Greek ship-
ping market over the past few years and many have
indicated an appetite to become more entrenched
in the market. Additionally, the large majority of
Greek shipowners have made sure to have a diver-
sified lender base. The result of this is that, at least
the top end of the market, usually benefits from a
plethora of financing options.
Perhaps what is most impactful however at the
moment is neither of the above events relating to
the supply of ship finance but rather changes on
the demand side. I’m referring to the current high
financing costs (caused by the banks’ own high
funding costs) which, coupled with strong profits
in certain sectors over the past few years, seems to
have resulted in lower demand for shipping finance
transactions at the moment. If anything, I would
suspect that the repayments of existing facilities
made in the past 6-months have reached a record
high. Companies have sought to rid themselves of
expensive debt, taking advantage of the liquidity
that resulted from strong markets recently. The
relatively low orderbook at the moment also con-
tributes to that effect. This should mean that many SAFER
banks will actually be more hungry for business GREENER
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