These include - ABN AMRO Bank, BNP Paribas; Citibank, ING Bank, KfW IPEX-Bank and Société Générale.
This credit facility will be used towards financing the series of six LNG-powered Aframaxes, currently under construction and due for delivery from 3Q18 to 2Q19.
Each 114,000 dwt tanker will be built to Ice Class 1A, to enable safe year-round export operations from regions with challenging ice conditions, such as the Baltic. Two vessels will work exclusively for Shell under timecharters for up to 10 years, while Shell will also provide LNG fuel for all six vessels in the series across North West Europe and the Baltic, SCF said.
The credit facility benefits from a favourable long-term tenor and competitive pricing, reflecting the robustness of the deal structure, as well as the ability of SCF Group to raise capital internationally under all market conditions.
Nikolay Kolesnikov, SCF senior executive vice president, CFO, said: "We are delighted to have concluded a new long-term financing agreement for SCF Group, and are grateful to our long-standing financial partners for their continued support of SCF's business and growth plans.
“We are also pleased to welcome establishing relations with new international lenders to the Group. This new loan agreement clearly demonstrates the confidence of international partners in SCF Group despite the current challenges faced by the global economy and the shipping market.
“This is the second successful debt financing accomplished by SCF Group in 2018, which now allows the company to address in full its financing requirements for the newbuilding programme of 2018-2019," he concluded.