What is a Green Deal*?

As the largest EU climate protection programme, the Green Deal was established to create a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, which also has an impact on financial investments. The number of sustainable investments has increased more than tenfold over the past ten years. And this trend shows no signs of slowing down: environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards are increasingly establishing themselves in the professional investor segment. At the same time, the European Commission is working on standards for sustainable investments. EU taxonomy will define a uniform criteria catalogue for classifying green financial investments. A green deal thus refers to a sustainable and responsible financial investment.

What is the Green Ship Token?

The Green Ship Token is a digital security in the form of tokenised, certified subordinated participation rights. With the capital acquired through offering the Green Ship Tokens, Vogemann is expanding its fleet of handysize bulkers, with a preference for the Green Dolphin class. These ships exceed the current and announced requirements in terms of climate protection and energy efficiency in shipping. An investment in Green Ship Tokens brings together environmental protection and investment opportunities in the best way.

Investment in the handysize class

Whether bread, detergent, water glass or toothpaste, just about everything we require on a daily basis was, at one point, transported as a raw material via handysize bulker. With plenty of space in the cargo hatches for ore, coal, cereals, aluminium, bauxite, minerals, fertilisers and forestry products, it’s no wonder that bulkers are some of the world’s oldest forms of transport. And yet they reinvent themselves for improved sustainability time and time again.

What makes the handysize class so special:

  • Thanks to their compact size and minimal draught, handysize bulkers can moor at just about any berth
  • They have their own cranes and can therefore even be used at locations with insufficient infrastructure
  • Unlike container ships, they don’t follow a defined route, but rather the cargo:
    wherever the bulker is needed, that’s where it goes
  • Handysize bulkers in the Green Dolphin class require approximately 40 per cent less fuel than their predecessor, whilst reducing CO2 emissions

Vogemann set standards

Now’s the perfect time to invest in new ships. But selecting the right class is key, as the requirements in terms of environmental compatibility are always increasing.
New ships have been subject to special guidelines regarding CO2 emissions since 2015. The Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) governs cargo ships and sets a ship’s emissions in relationship to its transport capacity.

Of the 2,701 handysize bulkers that currently traverse the world’s seas, just 755 fulfil the current requirements for CO2 emissions, which stipulate a reduction in CO2 of 10% for new ships. New ships commissioned from 2025 will be subject to the second EEDI phase (a reduction in CO2 of at least 20%), which only 274 ships in the fleet currently fulfil. The third phase will take effect in 2029 for new ships, which will have to demonstrate at least 30% less CO2 emissions.

There are currently two handysize bulkers in the entire world that already fulfil these criteria: the Voge Sophie and her sister ship Sea Eagle, both new Vogemann ships completed in 2019. With these handysize bulkers, Vogemann is nearly ten years ahead of its time environmentally.

Why is environmental also economically sensible?

In addition to emission values, the increase in energy efficiency also plays a key role. The cleanest and most affordable fuel is now the fuel that’s not even used in the first place.

Vogemann has therefore put its trust in cutting-edge MAN diesel engines. Green Dolphins such as Voge Sophie consume much less fuel than conventional handysize bulkers – in figures, that’s a savings of 40 per cent compared to their predecessor. That has a huge impact on operating costs and is an increasingly important criterion for charterers when it comes to selecting the ship, most importantly because new rules governing fuel took effect on 1 January 2020:

Whilst conventional marine fuel contains very high levels of sulphur, new guidelines now stipulate a limit of 0.5 per cent sulphur. That means either an expensive retrofit for ships in the form of a desulphurisation system – or the use of new, low-sulphur fuels. Both solutions will be costly. Vogemann’s decision for Green Dolphins brings together environmental and economic aspects, as state-of-the-art ships are not only better for the environment, but also improve capacity and achieve higher charter rates.

You have to spend money to make money

The purchase prices for handysize bulkers are very low at present. Whilst an investment of around 40 million US dollars had to be reckoned with for a new ship before the 2008 financial crisis, buildings costs are currently around 23.5 million US dollars. In other words, now’s the right time to place orders.

But that’s not the only reason: the global fleet of handysize bulkers could be insufficient to meet future demand. Nearly one-quarter of ships are at least 15 years old and almost 6 per cent are over the age of 25 and headed for scrapping. The number of new orders doesn’t even come close to compensating for the approaching shortage.

And that’s just one more reason for Vogemann to take action now and fill the order book. Even Aristotle Socrates Onassis, the Greek shipping magnate, operated on the principle of countercyclical investment. Purchasing when it’s affordable – to benefit from an upswing later on. Or in other words: You have to spend money to make money.