24 July 2023 (Lloyd's List) - WAN HAI Lines has signed a 10-year NT$3bn ($96m) sustainable performance-linked financing agreement with Standard Chartered Bank.
“This marks the first sustainability-linked shipping finance deal completed by the container shipping industry in Taiwan,” Wan Hai said in a press release.
The financing agreement with Standard Chartered is designed to link up with Wan Hai’s fleet carbon indicators, the carrier said, noting that Sustainalytics will be engaged in the financing as the second-party opinion provider.
Sustainability-linked loans provide borrowers with the flexibility to use the money for general business purposes, as the terms are linked exclusively to the borrower’s environmental, social and governance-related performance rather than the use of proceeds for specific projects, said Sustainalytics, an ESG research and rating service provider, on its website.
“This flexibility has made the SLL a popular alternative to traditional capital raising and debt,” Sustainalytics added.
Wan Hai has established its carbon reduction targets, pledging to achieve a 50% reduction in the carbon intensity of its fleet by 2030 compared with the base year of 2008.
Wan Hai achieved a 5.2% reduction in fleet CO2 emissions intensity in 2022 compared with the previous year, which represents a decrease of about 34% compared to 2008, the company said.
Founded in 1965 in Taiwan, Wan Hai operated 90 owned vessels and 59 chartered vessels last year.
