Sustainability-linked loan granted by DBS marks first in Singapore’s maritime industry
Singapore, 11 November 2020 – With strong confidence in its successful business expansion into the offshore wind market in Europe, PSA Marine Pte Ltd (“PSA Marine”) has been granted a three-year EUR 30 million equivalent sustainability-linked loan from DBS Bank (“DBS”). This is PSA Marine’s first sustainability-linked loan and is the first of its kind granted to a company in Singapore’s maritime industry.
The loan features an interest rate adjustment linked to an Environmental, Social and
Governance (“ESG”) target. This requires a fleet of PSA Marine’s Crew Transfer Vessels
(“CTVs”) to be substantially deployed to support offshore wind energy-related activities, such as the transportation and accommodation of personnel, cargoes and equipment for offshore wind farms. PSA Marine’s subsidiary, Ventus Marine Limited, currently owns and operates a fleet of 10 modern CTVs to service the renewable offshore wind market in Europe.
“PSA Marine has grown our business in the renewable energy sector since 2015 as part of
our commitment to move towards sustainable energy. We are proud to play a part in
supporting the offshore wind industry and will continue to partner with financial institutions and other organisations to explore new opportunities in this space,” said Peter Chew, Managing Director of PSA Marine.
“The investment made in support of the offshore wind market through the sustainability-linked loan reaffirms PSA Marine’s commitment to support a cleaner and greener future. It creates a win-win outcome for our stakeholders as well as the environment,” said Er Wei Lim, VicePresident of Singapore and Head of Corporate Services of PSA Marine.
PSA Marine’s other business offerings which help facilitate a transition to a low carbon
economy include the provision of CTVs and Service Accommodation Transfer Vessel services to the offshore wind market in Taiwan, support vessel services to the Liquified Natural Gas (“LNG”) market in Bangladesh and harbour towage services with two dual fuel LNG harbour tugs in Singapore.
Committed to supporting customers like PSA Marine in their transition to more carbon-friendly operations, Boey Yin Chong, Managing Director and Global Head of Shipping, Aviation, Logistics and Transportation of DBS, said, “A shift in mindsets by traditionally carbon-intensive industries like transportation towards more sustainable practices is a needed and progressive step in the right direction. We are very happy to have supported this with like-minded partners such as PSA Marine. As a bank, we remain committed to supporting this drive and look to structure more such sustainable-structured transactions to further build on our clients’ sustainability agendas which ultimately will become a key and important differentiator in their businesses.”
Since 2018, DBS has done around 100 sustainable finance deals worth over SGD 15 billion and has committed to financing SGD 20 billion in renewable, clean-energy and green projects by 2024.
