Seaspan Secures Industry-First Sustainability Linked Loan

Updated: November 17, 2020 (Originally published October 21, 2020)

Seaspan Corporation, a leading containership owner and operator, says it has secured a $1.8 billion sustainability-linked loan, marking a first of its kind in the containership leasing industry.

The loan consists of a $200 million term loan with a tenor of six years. The expanded Program is comprised of a $300 million revolving credit facility, and approximately $1.5 billion of term loan commitments, with staggered maturities between 2024 and 2026. Proceeds from the loan are intended to pay down the revolving credit facility, bolstering liquidity and capacity for growth opportunities, Seaspan said.

The SLL is the first sustainability-linked loan in the containership leasing industry, according to Seaspan. The framework of the loan inspired by the Poseidon Principles, the global framework by which financial institutions can assess the climate alignment of their ship finance portfolios.

The pricing of the loan will adjusted based on Seaspan’s performance against two key performance indicators. The first is the alignment of the carbon intensity of the collateral vessels with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2050 decarbonization goals. The second aims at fostering cooperation with charterers in order to advance the decarbonization agenda by seeking to include sustainability-linked provisions in future charter contracts.

Seaspan Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Corp. (NYSE:ATCO).

“Our execution of the SLL marks the first sustainability-linked financing in the containership leasing space and aligns Seaspan’s long-standing commitment to sustainability with our capital structure strategy,” said Bing Chen, Chief Executive Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer of Atlas. “Further, our team has been consistently executing on quality growth and capital structure improvement through a difficult period for the global capital markets. We are proud of the partnerships we have fostered over the last 20 years – with both liner customers and financial partners – which have made this milestone possible.”

The loan is fully underwritten by Société Générale and BNP Paribas as mandated lead arrangers, underwriters and bookrunners, with Société Générale acting as the sole “Sustainability Coordinator”.

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