German banks count cost of global shipping crisis | Reuters
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-shipping-banks-idUKKCN11L2HV
German banks are struggling to recoup tens of billions of dollars of loans as a global shipping industry slump hits them hard.
The lenders - among the biggest backers of shipowners over the past 20 years - are behind up to a quarter of the world’s $400 billion of outstanding shipping loans, three shipping financiers told Reuters.
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“German banks account for close to $100 billion of shipping debt out of a world total of around $400 billion,” said Dagfinn Lunde, who spent more than a decade as head of shipping at Germany’s DVB Bank until the end of 2013.
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“It seems like the shipbuilding and ship finance sectors are ... imploding,” Anthony Gurnee, chief executive of ship operator Ardmore Shipping Corp (ASC.N), told an industry conference in London last week.
His comments echo remarks made by Stefan Ermisch, the chief executive of shipping finance specialist HSH Nordbank [HSH.UL], who recently described the shipping sector as “on the floor”.
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The ECB is currently analysing the data and will likely take further measures afterwards, said the source, adding: “The ECB suspects some European banks use too optimistic models to calculate the value of shipping loans and ships.”
The ECB declined to comment.