International finance of ocean-going vessels and other maritime assets such as off-shore oil and gas equipment is currently experiencing what could be described as a perfect storm: Many owners looking to refinance newer assets in their fleet ordered their construction and locked into efficient funding before the global financial crisis of 2007/8. And according to the World Shipping Council, the global container fleet peaked in 2013 at around 34.5 million TEU. At the same time, along with transoceanic freight rates which are widely recognised as a bellwether of international trade flows, residual container ship values in US$ per dead weight tonnage slumped dramatically from the end of 2008 onwards, w…
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