Penningtons Manches Cooper acts on financing and delivery of Eimskip’s Brúarfoss

Posted: 13/10/2020

Following the successful delivery of sister ship Dettifoss earlier this year, leading Icelandic transportation and logistics company Eimskip has taken delivery of Brúarfoss, the second of two new 2,150 TEU container vessels built in China. Together, they are now the largest vessels in the company’s fleet.

Partner Grant Eldred and associate Ellis van der Vos assisted Eimskip in relation to the delivery of the vessel, built at Guangzhou Wenchong Shipyard in partnership with China Ship Trading Company, as well as the financing arrangements with German bank KfW IPEX-Bank Gmbh and ECA backed financing from Chinese insurer Sinosure.

Despite the ongoing disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, all parties worked together via a virtual closing meeting across China, Iceland, the UK, Germany and the Faroe Islands to achieve completion, and delivery of Brúarfoss was successfully achieved 9 October 2020.

The Faroe Islands flagged vessel will now begin the voyage from China to Iceland, before formally entering into service in a few weeks’ time.

The vessel has a gross tonnage over 26,000 and has been designed with ice class in accordance with the Polar Code, for the eventual trading route to Greenland. In line with the shipping industry’s sustainability drive, Brúarfoss has been specifically designed to lower emissions of nitrogen oxide, consume less fuel per container unit, and has built-in scrubbers to minimise sulphur oxide emissions.

Grant Eldred, partner in the banking and finance team at Penningtons Manches Cooper, said:

“In these challenging times, the successful deliveries of both the Brúarfoss - and the Dettifoss earlier this year – were great testament to the quality, skill and cooperation of the people embedded in the shipping industry worldwide. Congratulations to all involved.”

Árni Sigurðsson of Eimskip commented:

"It’s a great milestone for Eimskip to take delivery of its second new build, Brúarfoss, following the delivery of Dettifoss earlier this year. In these unprecedented circumstances resulting from the outbreak of Covid-19 and the economic downturn it made a huge difference to have an experienced partner in Penningtons Manches Cooper throughout, providing us with the guidance and assistance to conclude the project in the middle of much uncertainty."

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