European maritime finance– inviting investors to take part in the decarbonization of shipping

In June of this year, European Maritime

Finance (EMF) announced the sale of a 2007-built Aframax tanker for $39.5 million, netting investors an impressive 220% return. The deal was arranged in partnership with Atlas Maritime and the ROI is close to the very top of its transactional range. Since 2018, EMF’s average return has been 73% over a 17-month average investment duration. Numbers like these have attracted the attention of an increasing number of investors, especially as they have been achieved with innovative decarbonization shipping policies.

This is exactly what CEO Martin Haugaard and co-founder Martin Almdal had in mind when they set up EMF in 2018 as a corporate finance company. “Shipping is a very capital-intensive industry and has traditionally been financed by institutional investors that have the capacity to commit hundreds of millions of dollars,” Haugaard explains. “One of the secrets to our success has been our policy of allowing semi-professional investors to participate with lesser capital amounts.”

By collaborating closely with established shipowners, mainly Leon Patitsas from Atlas Maritime in Athens, but also fleet operators and shipyards, EMF has given its clients the opportunity to participate in various secondhand and new building projects in both tankers, PCTC’s (pure car & truck carriers) and dry bulk vessels. After several years of impressive results, EMF has developed solid relationships with both partners and investors, as well as commercial and technical managers within the various shipping segments.

TEAM BUILDING

Haugaard was quick to recognize that he needed to further strengthen EMF’s industry expertise to successfully execute the business model, so he put together a highly capable team that had not only solid experience of the shipping industry, but also regulatory and financial expertise. In 2021, he convinced Stephen Schueler to join EMF as chairman of the board. As former chief commercial officer at A.P. Moller – Maersk, the world’s largest shipping and logistics company, Schueler had been responsible for running its 374 global offices across 114 countries. He was also the CEO of the Safmarine Shipping Line.

STEP CHANGE

Schueler’s appointment has proved key to EMF’s growth, and he was soon joined by another industry veteran, Klaus Kjærulff, former CEO of Torm, the world-leading specialist carrier of energy and clean petroleum products. “We have a