The signing ceremony of the corresponding contracts was held in Hong Kong today. This second new vessel is scheduled for delivery during the fourth quarter of 2017. KfW IPEX-Bank closed the financing for Star Cruises’ first new vessel (a sister ship) in April of this year.

KfW Ipex has taken on the structuring of the overall financing and is providing the entire loan amount together with Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and the Singapore branch of DNB Bank ASA. The financing is backed by export credit insurance provided by Germany (Euler Hermes cover) and encompasses the Commercial Interest Reference Rate (CIRR) for ships, which is set by the OECD.

The sister ships have gross tonnage of about 150,000. With more than 1,600 passenger cabins and a length of approximately 330 meters, both ships will be among the biggest of their kind in Asia.

Adding this second new vessel, Star is expanding its fleet to nine ships, thus catering to what the bank called the growing demand for cruise vacations in the Asian market.

Star Cruises is wholly-owned by Genting Hong Kong Limited, a company active in the leisure, tourism and entertainment industries and whose shares are listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Singapore Stock Exchange. Genting also holds a majority interest  in Norwegian Cruise Line.