Basics of Contemporary Ship Finance

Merchant Navy Officers Association-Chandigarh (MNOA) and Institute of Marine Engineers (IMEI), Chandigarh Chapter in association with MRDB, IEI Kolkata organised a stimulating seminar at the Institution of Engineer Bhawan, Punjab and Chandigarh State Centre, “Sekhon” Auditorium, Madhya Marg, Sec- 19, Chandigarh- 160019. This thought-provoking seminar, attended by 35 Merchant Navy Officers, on the 27th October was delivered by Mr Jagmeet Makkar, FICS on the Basics of Contemporary Ship Finance.

It was a hybrid event where local colleagues joined in-person and networked over high tea following the seminar. In addition, many participants joined on-line by zoom link. The event was also telecast live on youtube.com, thanks to Marex Media.

The event was presided over by Cdr. Dr Bhaskar Bhandarkar, Vice President IMEI, and Chairman MRDB, IEI. Cdr. Bhandarkar is a strong supporter of training and education and encourages delivery of various technical seminars and events.

Jagmeet, a lifetime member of the MNOA, Chandigarh and a fellow of the IMEI is the former IME(I) Chair at the Indian Maritime University and holds number of positions, serving the industry, mostly pro bono. He is a strong believer in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and is on the Board of the WISTA Hong Kong and on the Diversity List 2017 of the Zubin Foundation, along with his wife Dr Guneet Makkar, who is also on the list.

Jagmeet logically brings together historical developments and, also updates his colleagues and participants with the most recent trends in the subject matter that he speaks about. It was a pleasure listening to him, covering the following concepts:
• Need for Finance for Shipping
• Ship Finance Options
• Trends in Ship Finance
• Impact of new financial & environment regulations on financing for ships

In addition, Jagmeet talked about the ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) challenges and the regulatory landscape that almost all the stakeholders are facing, including the lenders. This further adds on to the expectations that the lenders have from the shipping investors as well as the investors have from the lenders. He also touched upon the Poseidon Principles. It was interesting to note his comment that “ESG is a concept you think about in the beginning and all throughout the life cycle of a project e.g., a ship, while the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) could be an afterthought and sometimes a limited effort, just to raise the profile of a firm.

Marex Media

The Author
Jagmeet Makkar, FICS