OAL CVFF BRIEFING: What Shipowners Need In Place Before They Apply

Our last two issues (Issue 1 and Issue 2) set out what the CVFF is and why it treats vessel arrest as a last resort rather than the first point of response, learning from the failure of the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund. This issue is about what an applicant needs to have in place before approaching a Primary Lending Institution. Eligibility is only the starting point. What separates an application that passes the credit committee from one that fails is whether the underlying business the vessel will be engaged in is genuinely bankable.

Here is what shipowners need to have in place before applying for CVFF.

Ownership of the applicant matters

Only Nigerian citizens and shipping companies wholly owned by Nigerians will qualify as eligible beneficiaries under the CVFF. This is not a box-ticking exercise. Prospective applicants must therefore be ready to disclose their ownership structures, shareholder details and corporate filings needed to establish that they meet the