German cruise operator TUI Cruises has secured financing from German banking consortium led by KfW IPEX-Bank for its order for two new ships from the Finnish yard Meyer Turku shipyard.
The order follows construction of six sister ships at the yard and the latest ones are yet to become known as the Mein Schiff 7 and 8.
Jointly with UniCredit and one other European commercial bank, KfW IPEX-Bank as one of the bookrunners structured the entire financing of the new ships for TUI Cruises and secured the order for the Meyer Turku shipyard with its commitment to finance the total loan amount. Additional banks contributed to the financing.
“As one of the world’s leading providers of ship finance we are once again underlining our structuring expertise in the cruise sector with this commitment,” said Christian K. Murach, responsible member of the Management Board at KfW IPEX-Bank . “ We are pleased to have been a reliable financing partner for the successful German shipping company TUI Cruises from the very beginning.”
With its “Mein Schiff” fleet, currently comprising four vessels, TUI Cruises is one of the fastest-growing cruise operators in the German market. The fleet is to grow to six ships by 2017 when the vessels already under construction (Mein Schiff 5 and Mein Schiff 6) are completed. The two new ships that have now been ordered will respectively replace Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 in 2018 and 2019, thus contributing to the modernisation of the fleet, while also setting new standards in terms of environmental performance.