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Monday, March 25, 2024

European Investment Bank, ABN Amro sign agreement to support green shipping options

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Dutch bank ABN Amro have partnered to support green shipping options in Europe.

They signed an agreement to ensure that companies promoting sustainable maritime transportation can be offered favorable financing options because of EIB's AAA rating, according to an EIB press release. Financial support is available both for new ship construction and for retrofitting existing vessels to be more earth friendly.

“The bank received a clear signal from the market that there was a financing gap for the greening of shipping fleets.” EIB Vice President Pim van Ballekom said in the release. “By allowing the EIB to take more risk, the Investment Plan for Europe enabled us to create a new instrument to support shipping companies in complying with the European sustainability standards. This is the second agreement under a 750 million euro ($816 million) EFSI green shipping guarantee Program, which was set up after numerous discussions with Dutch counterparts from the public and private sector. We are really looking to ship owners to make use of it so that we can implement it in other countries as well.”

Daphne de Kluis, CEO of commercial clients for ABN Amro, said the partnership is a fitting way to promote sustainable solutions.

“We are very happy we can support the Juncker plan through this initiative," de Kluis said. "The EIB facility is an extra stimulus for ABN Amro to stimulate our shipping clients to look for sustainable solutions. It fits perfectly with our other efforts to promote sustainable solutions in this important sector."

The greening of shipping fleets is an effort to help diminish environmental pollutants while boosting fuel efficiency. Projects proposed to ABN Amro will be subject to review for eligibility.