This week we received Dealogic’s “Marine Finance Rankings Syndicated Loans—Third Quarter 2025,” which reveals some interesting trends in the ship lending/financing market.

IT'S TIME TO (CON)TANGO
SHIPPING STOCKS ON THE RISE AGAIN

Among several recent deals illustrating this trend, one of the most notable comes from shipping and capital markets pioneer Peter Georgiopoulos, who has filed to launch a new Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC)—or “blank check company”—in partnership with Jefferies. Companies: Peter Georgiopoulos, Jefferies, Navios Maritime, Star Bulk , General Purpose Acquisition Corp. Services LLC, United Overseas Group , Gener8 Maritime , Maritime Equity Partners, Genco Shipping & Trading , General Purpose Acquisition Corp. (GPACU), GPAC, GPACW, Stellar V Capital Corp, Prokopios Tsirigakis , George Syllantavos

The recent transaction history within the shipping industry has featured more “take-privates” than it has IPOs, and even with impressive share price gains across every sector within the past five years of the COVID-era super cycle, follow-on offerings too have been few and far between. Companies: Diana Shipping, B. Dyson Capital Advisors, Genco Shipping & Trading

Perhaps another big change in the Nordic bond market this year has been the emergence of new borrowers—in particular, Greek shipowners. Companies: Contships, Performance Shipping, Navios South American Logistics, Navios Maritime Partners, Arctic Securities, Fearnley Securities, SEB, Crédit Agricole, S. Goldman Advisors, National Bank of Greece , BNP Paribas , KfW IPEX-Bank, Hellenic Bank

The final data point in this wave of activity comes from the world of private equity. Institutional investors are expanding their focus beyond ships to the infrastructure and asset-backed ecosystems that enable maritime trade. Companies: KKR, Galaxy Container Solutions, Stonepeak, Textainer , Seapeak , Teekay LNG

After a period of subdued activity, equity capital markets (ECM) for shipping are showing strong signs of revival.

The rise of private credit is one of the defining shifts in modern financial markets. Companies: Blackstone, KKR, Brookfield, Moody, Hudson Structured Capital Management, Performance Trust Capital Partners, Seward & Kissel.

While equity capital markets may be re-opening, the bond market has remained a dominant source of capital for shipowners this year. While much of the Nordic bond narrative is already known, there have been a few subtle developments that have made this year just a little bit different.

Another encouraging signal from the ECM front is Tor Olav Trøim’s sponsored company Bruton Limited. Companies: Tor Olav Trøim, Bruton Limited, Andes Tankers II, Euronext Growth Oslo, Koch Shipping, Clarksons Securities AS , ABG Sundal Collier, Arctic Securities, DNB, Carnegie, Fearnley Securities , Ro Sommernes

CUSTOMS – ZOLL – DOUANE
SHIPPING STOCKS UNDER PRESSURE

As we mentioned last week, Danaos has now become the latest to tap the bond market for its latest capital raising efforts, consolidating multiple tranches of debt on its balance sheet into one, and well ahead of time. Companies: Danaos, Golar LNG, from BNP Paribas/Crédit Agricole