German shipping company Vogemann has started a new way of financing, using blockchain-based Green Shipping Token to expand its fleet of bulk carriers.
The company is looking to raise $50m via this novel green financing method with minimum investments set at $1,000.
The raised capital will be used to purchase green geared handy bulkers. Vogemann data suggests that currently worldwide there are just two handy bulk carriers (up to 40,000 dwt), which meet the highest requirements for CO2 emissions. These requirements only apply to newbuildings that will be put into service from 2029. Both ships of the so-called Green Dolphin’class were built for Vogemann and were put in service in 2019.
Vogemann’s decision to invest in future-oriented ships is also in line with the company’s decision to use the still new financing instrument of a digital securities issue.
“We have always been open to new financing methods,” said Markus Lange, managing partner of H. Vogemann Reederei. “A security token offering is the logical continuation of our financing strategy.”
“The worldwide fleet of handysize bulkers is threatened with an extreme shortage as a large number of these ships are too old, too uneconomical and therefore no longer competitive,” said Patrick Schütze, managing director of Neofin Hamburg G, which is overseeing Vogemann’s digital securities issue. “The purchase prices are currently at a low level. By acting with foresight, Vogemann is opting for an anti-cyclical investment and the oldest merchant’s motto in the world: the profit is in the purchase”.
The issue will run on the Ethereum blockchain. The issuance and investor platform www.greenshiptoken.com is based on Ive.One, which was specially developed by the Frankfurt-based FinTech Agora Innovation for issues of digital securities via blockchain solutions.
The so-called Green Deal created by Vogemann comes with 8% interest plus profit sharing for investors.