More than 60 delegates attended Damen’s first Fishing Seminar in South Africa, where the company presented its new vessel leasing fund specifically designed for African shipowners.
The seminar, held on 22 November at Damen Shipyards Cape Town, included representatives from the five major South African fishing companies. Delegates had the opportunity to learn about Damen’s ‘Africa Ship Leasing’ fund which offers fishing vessel owners vessel financing based on a leasing agreement.
Benny Bhali, sales and marketing executive at Damen Shipyards Cape Town, said: “Damen wants to show how it can support the fishing community, both in terms of maintaining the existing fleet and also through the fund, which can help them develop their fleet and potentially replace ageing vessels.”
Tailormade leases
Africa Ship Leasing was established in May 2018 and is already assisting owners in both Nigeria and Angola. Each lease agreement is tailormade for the customer, who begins by chartering the vessel for a certain number of years, while at the same time repaying the loan and the applicable interest. They then have the option to purchase the vessel during the tenor of the agreement and the obligation after the repayment period.
Mr Bhali stated: “We can show shipowners what is possible and how we can help them grow their business. Although fishing companies are awarded their quotas, it is not always easy for them to get local financing for investments in their fleet, so the Damen Fund enables them to tap into the international financing market.”
“The South African government has some important initiatives to help develop the fleet but it won’t be able to achieve its ambitions on its own”, emphasised Mr Bhali.
Participants, which included representation from companies in Namibia and Mozambique, also had a tour of Damen Shipyards Cape Town to highlight the advantages of building vessels ‘in Africa for Africa’.
