by Nigel Lowry - LLoyds List

AS a career banker and a devout shipping man, Dagfinn Lunde is clearly pained by the retreat that many banks have made from the industry in the last few years. At the same time, he tells Lloyd’s List, that has created a “huge opportunity” for others to step in to the ship finance arena if they can offer an alternative to banks, which are weighed down by costs and bound by increasingly strict regulations. While balance-sheet based statistics and market estimates have circulated purporting to show changes in banks’ shipping portfolios from year to year, there have been few authoritative numbers showing how much real lending capacity has vanished from the market. “In terms of new lending capacity it must be at least 50% and I think it’s even more,” says Mr Lunde. “No bank is underwriting big amounts any more. They used to sign loans for $30m to $50m but not anymore. Now it’s maybe $10m to $15m for the lucky ones. “There has been a huge reduction in lending. Fewer and fewer banks will use their balance sheets for ship lending — that much is clear.” Mr Lunde’s more than 40-year career in the banking and maritime industry has famously included stints as head of shipping and offshore, as well as a board member, at DVB Bank in Rotterdam and Frankfurt, manager of Den Norske Bank in New York and managing director of international tanker owners’ association Intertanko in London.

In Elnavi

Does your bank/organisation provide adequate lending capacity to shipping companies and under what criteria?
We are not the ‘providers’ of bank finance. In essence, we are a B2b platform that can be utilised by a shipowner to reach a broader spectrum of investors, in order to obtain financing within certain parameters.

​Do you agree with the strict Central Banks regulations (Basel rules) to avoid softening of loan covenants and aggressive lending? 
Yes we agree, banks in the past have been reckless with overlending and hence this has led to a bad market situation. Lending institutions should therefore exercise caution and a set a discipline in their lending policies.

by Craig Jalall, Rivieramm

There are maybe half a dozen instantly recognisable names in ship finance, and Dagfinn Lunde is one of them. He was head of shipping and offshore at the specialist shipping bank DVB Bank until compulsory retirement. Today he is a co-founder and chairman of SFG Ship Finance Global, which encompasses a new venture in the provision of ship finance: eShipfinance.com

​eShipfinance.com is designed to make it easier for both borrowers and investors to engage with each other online. The digital platform allows borrowers to present their proposals using industry standard tools, online.

In New Money

Ένας καινοτόμος τρόπος για τη χρηματοδότηση πλοίων παρουσιάστηκε στην Έκθεση των Ποσειδωνίων. Πρόκειται για το eShipfinance, το οποίο προσφέρει την παραδοσιακή χρηματοδότηση σκαφών σε μια ψηφιακή πλατφόρμα, κατά τρόπο εύκολο, γρήγορο και ασφαλή.

«Το eShipfinance.com έχει ως σκοπό να συγκεντρώσει τους χρηματοδότες με τους επενδυτές ενώ διαχειρίζεται όλα όσα απαιτούνται για να ολοκληρωθεί η συμφωνία και η έγκριση του δανείου. Η σε απευθείας σύνδεση με την ηλεκτρονική πλατφόρμα διευκολύνει τις

υποθήκες σκαφών με έναν «ευκολότερο», «γρηγορότερο» και περισσότερο «ασφαλή» τρόπο»  επεσήμανε η Μαρίνα Tζουτζουράκη έμπιερο τραπεζικό στέλεχος: «Τα προγράμματα εξασφαλίζονται με μια υποθήκη όχι περισσότερο από 50% LTV με ευνοϊκό κόστος για τον πλοιοκτήτη, υποστηριζόμενα από μια πεπειραμένη ομάδα και με μια ελκυστική αποπληρωμή της για τον επενδυτή»

Ο Dagfinn Lunde εκ των συνιδρυτών πρόσθεσε:

by Barry Parker, New York Correspondent, Seatrade Maritime

 In contrast to previous years, where hordes of distressed investors in 2015, high priced lenders in 2017, or restructuring specialists in 2012, and even private equity investors in 2010 and 2013 seemed to be over-running the venue, this year’s event saw platoons (not armies) of commercial bankers, and investment banker types looking for deals.

This year, a new group - the tech fringe was in evidence, fitting in far more seamlessly than in 2000 and 2001 when Marine Money attempted to put bankers in the same room with dot-comers - a-non starter if there ever was one. Long time banker Dagfinn Lunde, now chairman of eShipfinance.com, a conference speaker, and accounting veteran George Cambanis (in the audience, now managing director of YieldStreet lent an august and calming nature to providing debt, as “FinTech” is increasingly infused into ship finance.