oceanis, a Hamburg-based finance platform which gives shipowners access to a pool of 45+ financiers through a single loan application, has closed US$ 200 million in financing transactions since its launch.

Already used by 100+ shipowners, the platform has seen a sharp rise in projects submitted since 2021. The debt providers using the platform include traditional shipping banks, Asian leasing houses and alternative debt funds from across the globe.

It has also seen US$ 2 billion+ in indicative terms in its three years of operation.

Designed to speed up, standardise and simplify the process for shipowners looking to receive debt financing for their projects, oceanis combines a mixture of technology and behind the scenes advisory support to ensure that the screened projects are submitted to debt finance providers in a format which they can easily evaluate. Typically, term sheets for viable projects are received within three days.

Co-founder and Joint Managing Director Maximilian Otto said:
“oceanis has significantly widened the pool of financing options for the typical shipowner and brought viable projects to the attention of a bigger selection of debt providers than ever before. Our optimised processes provide quick access to the market and reliable comparability of available finance. By bringing down lead times, we bring down costs for everyone.”

He added:

“We’ve standardised the loan application process to make it easier for shipowners seeking dept opportunities to optimise financing terms by scanning the global market. Shipowners typically receive indicative loan terms and proposed margins quite late into the loan application process. Using oceanis helps speed up the process of securing funding for a project.”

Co-founder and Joint Managing Director Erlend Sommerfelt Hauge said:

“We’re seeing more projects looking for finance than ever before and the devil is in the detail. Lenders have different preferences and capabilities and the most competitive lender for each project varies along with the project details. Each project typically receives at least two indicative offers, but we always aim for precision and quality over quantity when identifying loan options.”

He added:

“We are in weekly and daily dialogue with the most active lenders on our platform and pay close attention to their lending appetite. In today’s market, with high money velocity in our industry, industry participants are very conscious of their time. Precision and smooth processes are key to optimal outcomes for both shipowners and the financial institutions.”

The oceanis team is growing and is led by executives that previously worked for shipowners, banks and software companies. It will now turn its attention to developing further ship finance support tools for its community of shipping and finance specialists.

Co-founder and Joint Managing Director Dennis Nagel said:

“We launched Pythia, an algorithm-based loan predictor service which accurately predicts the probability of any particular project securing funding and advises on steps needed to make the project viable. We will be adding further services, making oceanis a valuable hub for the hard-pressed shipping chief financial officers as well as the capital providers.”