Finnvera to participate in the financing of the sister ship ordered by TUI Cruises from the STX Finland Turku shipyard

STX Finland Oy and the German shipping company TUI Cruises GmbH have signed a contract for the construction of a sister ship to the cruise ship ordered a year ago. Finnvera is the guarantor for the post-delivery buyer credit to be financed through Citibank and Finnish Export Credit Ltd.

The guarantee granted by Finnvera covers 95 per cent of the approximately EUR 360 million buyer credit. The loan period is 12 years from the delivery of the vessel. The beneficiary under Finnvera’s guarantee is the credit arranger, Citibank with Finnvera’s subsidiary Finnish Export Credit Ltd providing financing for the credit.

“In connection with ship building contracts, the buyer practically always requires that long-term post-delivery export credit financing is committed before the contract is signed. Finnish companies’ competitiveness in capital goods exports is supported by a scheme where Finnvera grants the export credit guarantee and Finnish Export Credit Ltd provides financing for  the export credit granted to the buyer by the bank," explains Topi Vesteri, Finnvera’s Executive Vice President.

This export credit financing scheme has been in use since the beginning of 2009, that is, from the onset of the financial market crisis.

The sister ship is expected to be delivered from STX Finland Oy's Turku shipyard in May 2015. The impact on employment is estimated at 5,500 person-years of employment.

The capacity of the 98,000 GRT cruise ship is 2,500 passengers, and its length is about 295 metres.

TUI Cruises GmbH shipping company is a joint venture of TUI AG (a leading European tour operator) and Royal Caribbean International (the world’s second largest cruise line operator).

Additional information:

Topi Vesteri, Executive Vice President, Export Financing, tel. +358 29 460 2676