The global ship finance community is facing a number of issues given the high levels of secured shipping debt held by many banks in this community, which shipping companies are struggling to meet from operations suffering from surplus capacity and low demand. In addition to the major structural challenges faced by the industry as it seeks to recover from the crash of 2008, the European Central Bank is now reviewing the quality of the collateral held by ship finance banks as security for these loans. Once the ECB’s review is complete, many banks may need to strengthen their balance sheets and offload risky assets.
