Surely these are difficult times. A pandemic and the resulting economic collapse have created unprecedented uncertainty generally and specifically in the bank and credit markets. Unfortunately, the clock does not stop ticking and GasLog and GasLog Partners were faced with substantial loan maturities in Q2 and Q3 2021, requiring a refinancing on a large scale.

Just as it is essential to have access to as many sources of capital that are available, it is just as crucial to utilize alchemy to magically turn liabilities into assets or less onerous liabilities in order to create needed liquidity and strengthen the balance sheet.

Last week, Capital Product Partners L.P. reported its second quarter earnings. The actual results were lost in the "surprise" announcement of its board's decision to reduce its quarterly distribution approximately 71% from $0.35 to $0.10 per unit. Why some analysts deemed it a surprise, we are not quite sure why. The pandemic has roiled the world economy leaving volatility and uncertainty in its wake.

Could we possibly be more obvious in our conclusion? Even so, Dealogic's numbers were startling. Marine Finance volume for H1 2020 was a respectable $30.2 billion, the highest level recorded since 2015. However, it disguised the underlying trend.

Despite the high costs associated with operating under the U.S. flag, including ship prices and crew costs among others, there are some benefits, including the Maritime Security Program and as illustrated below highly-favorable financing.

This category received the most nominations, and the winning transaction most of those. This affirms our decision last year to add this new category, believing not only that the industry cares, but that Green Finance will surely become a major category.

A raging pandemic and an ensuing economic crisis have not diverted Seaspan Corporation from its growth ambitions.

Need equity. No problem. Maxim Group has become the dominant source of equity capital for the small cap shipping companies. Like the military, their motto is "no one left behind" and they have provided solutions to large numbers of these companies, often on multiple occasions.

We cannot begrudge the Scorpio Group's opportunism and outside the box thinking. Although we are believers in the pure play, and decidedly prejudiced, we understand that an established business can provide fertile support and funding for new ventures as evidenced most recently by Seapsan's merger into Atlas Corporation.

How in the world did shipping get so lucky as to have Michael Parker bank it? Afterall, in 1985 he was assisting Citi to finance the Channel Tunnel. Instead, in a job move which would be fortuitous for the shipping industry, he was shifted by the bank to assist with a pair of...

Perhaps we exaggerate in our choice of title, but Hafnia's proposed merger offer was at the very least a distraction for Ardmore Shipping Corporation's management team.

When it comes to understanding the benefits of share buybacks, we remain skeptical. We've heard the justification ad nauseum. With a reduced share count, EPS rises, notwithstanding changes in earnings, and the share price follows. Of course, it's never quite that simple.