At the end of September, we published the following piece in Freshly Minted puzzled by the lack of activity in the Norwegian bond market at least with respect to shipping.

Investors these days are laser focused on climate change and are investing heavily in companies that support the decarbonization effort. Despite the crucial role it will play in the development of wind energy, Eneti Inc.’s story unfortunately did not resonate with investors.

Last week, Klaveness Combination Carriers ASA (“KCC”) successfully completed an equity private placement with gross proceeds of NOK 213 million, to fund energy efficiency initiatives on its current fleet and for general corporate purposes.

MPC Container Ships ASA (“MPCC”) is firing on all cylinders enabling it to achieve its goal of returning capital to its shareholders with the added benefit of de-risking the company. In an eventful announcement, MPCC disclosed late last month that it had entered into a series of transformational transactions which increased the company’s balance sheet flexibility.

Today’s word du jour is optimize. Everyone is doing it or so it seems. In its latest iteration, Flex LNG announced, in its latest quarterly earnings release, the initiation of a $100 million balance sheet optimization program to be completed in 12 months.

Under its current guise, Teekay LNG Partners L.P. announced last week that it has priced NOK 1,000 million in new senior unsecured bonds that mature in November 2026 in the Norwegian bond market.

Last week, Gram Car Carriers ASA (“GCC”), a newly-established Norwegian company, announced its plan to issue the NOK equivalent of approximately $100 million, with an over-allotment option of 10%, in an equity private placement.

The Norwegian bond market is renowned for its ease and simplicity of execution. A simple term sheet and an investor presentation is all that is required. To be fair, both the presentation and term sheets have evolved over time and become lengthier as transactions became more complicated requiring greater detail and disclosure of risks.

It was almost three years ago that Hafnia Limited merged with BW Tankers to create the world’s largest product tanker fleet. In line with its advocacy of consolidation as a means to grow its platform in order to maximize shareholder value, the company earlier this month continued the process entering into an agreement to acquire Chemical Tankers Inc. (“CTI”), including its fleet of 32 modern and fuel-efficient IMO II product/chemical tankers through an issuance of new Hafnia shares.

We would concede that Atlas Corporation is generally transparent although, in our view, it is less than forthcoming, when it comes to details. In its Q3 2021 earnings report, the company disclosed that it had arranged $5.3 billion or 70% of the required financing for its 70-vessel newbuilding program with a total capex of $7.6 billion and was on target to close an additional $1.6 billion by year-end.

Also, enjoying the blessings of a strong container market, Triton International Limited announced last month the successful strategic transition of the company’s debt capital structure to primarily unsecured debt.

We are extremely grateful for Angeliki Frangou’s insight in linking the fortunes of the tanker sector during her interview with Clarksons’ Omar Nokta at our 2021 Greek Ship Finance Forum last week.