eShipfinance – Alternative Finance for Shipowners

Maritime Fintech Platform ‘eShipfinance’ was established in Greece by experienced finance executives Lunde, Tzoutzouraki and Gulati back in 2018. Lunde, the former head of shipping at DVB Bank in Germany, assisted with the setting up of Oldendorff-backed Maritime & Merchant Bank in Oslo after retiring from DVB.[1]

eShipfinance has recently introduced access to multiple-vessel deals, through eShipfinance V2 (version 2). This edition caters for an increase in possibilities for shipowners and investors alike, intended for multiple-ship deals’ financing.

Through this system, project pre-approval and deal-making are extremely quick and effective (as little as 20 minutes in some cases).[2] New technology product lines for banks allow them to double the investor’s portfolio at a lower cost, and it offers first-priority mortgages on ships.

For shipowners, multi-vessel multi-sector projects are supported, a free consultation is given (since a business plan can be easily created for the client’s use), and documentation is auto-generated and standardised, for better fulfilling compliance and regulatory requirements. Similarly, for investors, the improved V2 processes project across any part of the capital structure and it also offers a pre-analysis by experts for any type of project submitted.[3]

Built on the latest interaction of the Microsoft.NET platform, the Greek service targets shipowners, whether small or medium-sized, to seek finance after the pull-back of traditional banks. It brings the shipowners (as borrowers) and investors together on one platform to fund ships, structuring a traditional asset-secured loan.

Once the project is approved, after a risk analysis is completed, and the borrower accepts a final term sheet, an investor gains access to all relevant details of the vessel proposal, to decide which shipping project they wish to invest in, and by how much.

When a project is fully subscribed, the deal is complete!

Overall, as a platform, eShipfinance V2 accurately manages all the practicalities of the transaction between the two parties in a simple and efficient manner, leaving no stone unturned.[4]

Concluding Remarks

After the industry’s continuing calls for a separate maritime court within the Maltese legal infrastructure, which would inarguably further solidify Malta’s position as a destination of interest, it is interesting to see Malta’s competitors proceed with such a fintech platform exclusively applicable to the maritime industry. As similarly done in the aviation industry, legislators ought to take an avant-garde approach to ascertain that the Maltese maritime industry offers not only a highly efficient ship registry, but also ensures, alongside adhering to the demand for a maritime court, that a maritime bank is also established, thereby taking a pro-active approach as it pre-empts the current market needs as it strived to continue significantly bolstering the island’s facilities as a full-service maritime destination.

[1] https://www.tradewindsnews.com/finance/lunde-launches-new-version-of-digital-finance-shop-for-multiple-vessels/2-1-1249345

[2] https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/first-fintech-for-maritime-finance-eshipfinance-com-launches-version-2/

[3] https://maritime-news.com/first-fintech-for-maritime-finance-eshipfinance-com-launches-version-2/

[4] https://www.bigmarker.com/mare-forum/Alternative-Finance-for-Small-and-Medium-Shipowners