Eurazeo, through its Asset-based Finance strategy, is pleased to announce its 5th transaction for the Eurazeo Sustainable Maritime Infrastructure (ESMI) fund for an amount of €22.5 million. This investment consists in the financing of the first next-generation zero-emission short sea container vessel, being launched by the Samskip Group. Samskip will eventually produce 2 of such vessels that will serve as important steps towards reaching their sustainability targets and reinforce their goal of reaching Net-Zero by 2040.
The vessel, nicknamed “Samskip SeaShuttle”, is currently under construction at Cochin shipyard in India, and is expected to be delivered to Samskip in H2 2025. Once delivered, this vessel will be one of the world’s first and largest vessels to be propelled with a hydrogen propulsion system. The Samskip SeaShuttle will be fueled by green hydrogen in the ports of Oslo and Rotterdam, gradually integrated in the vessel’s energy mix from 2026 onwards to allow it to be totally carbon neutral from 2030. This will make it one of the world’s greenest vessels ever built, meeting all ESMI’s criteria and exceeding the fund’s targets in terms of GHG emission reduction objectives and credit risk profile as well.
Founded in 1990 in Iceland and headquartered in the Netherlands, Samskip is a logistics company offering transport and services by land, sea, rail and air. Being a European leader in transport and logistics services, the company puts a strong focus on efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly transport.
Sylvain Makaya, Partner – Asset-based, and Guillaume Branco, Investment Director – Asset-based, declared:
“Being able to support an established player like Samskip, with a focus on European intra-trade and logistics activities, constitutes a landmark transaction for our ESMI fund. It is a great opportunity to be a part of such a sustainable vessel project that is expected to be carbon neutral by 2030, hence contributing to the industry’s target to be net zero GHG emissions by 2050. We would like to warmly thank Samskip along with our strategic partners on the ESMI fund: Elbe Financial Solutions who acted as financial & maritime advisor, our origination advisor NRP, Simonsen Vogt Wiig as our legal advisor, and our technical & ESG advisor Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore. With this landmark transaction, we are reaching our objective to invest close to 50% of our first ESMI fund by 2023. We expect the ramp-up phase to continue during 2024 with the objective to prepare the second generation of this fund.”
Kari-Pekka Laaksonen, Group CEO Samskip, stated:
“The need to accelerate sustainability is paramount in today's rapidly changing world. Waiting is simply not an option. At Samskip, we feel an ethical responsibility to pioneer for sustainable solutions. Building energy-efficient vessels that use significantly less energy is critical to our future, as there is not enough energy in the world to produce renewable fuel for everything we produce. Therefore, it is truly great that we receive the support of Eurazeo in financing the first Samskip SeaShuttle. We believe we will only be successful when we truly collaborate. The support of Eurazeo is a great example of the kind of collaboration that is needed to make an effective energy transition.”
