Lease Finance in the Shipping Industry

by James R. Lawrence, A presentation made to the Equipment Leasing Association’s Big Ticket Conference in La Quinta, California

I noted with interest that shipping has been placed last on a very full Equipment Leasing Association agenda. At Marine Money’s Ship Finance Conferences, it is interesting to note that we usually place structured finance, also known as leasing, last also. The reason is simple. There has always been leasing in shipping but, for a variety of reasons, a most common refrain is “we’ve looked at lots of deals, but get few done.”

But that is changing.

World trade is growing at a rate 2.5 times world GDP. The general stature of the industry provides inexorable proof that business will be different in the next century. 95% of world trade goes wholly or partly by sea or waterway. The world’s vital industrial and agricultural raw materials and products can only be transported by ship. 60% of the world’s crude oil travels by sea. Asia, including Japan, imports some 55% of world dry bulk cargoes and, put together, Asia and Europe account for 93% of total world dry bulk imports.

This is only an excerpt of Lease Finance in the Shipping Industry

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