It is a special order, the employees from the special credit management of HSH Nordbank in Hamburg. Around two dozen experts from the Department, which is internally called SKM, manage the so-called “X-Portfolio” – a mountain of rotten ship loans, the Bank had, until recently, on its own balance sheet.

Christian Müßgens

economic correspondent in Hamburg.

F. A. Z.

In the course of its privatisation, it has made the loans to their new owners, a group of financial investors led by JC Flowers and Cerberus, which will let the package through a service contract by the Bank to manage. However, with new strategy, and that’s exactly the drives borrowers, including many shipowners, from the North of Germany, the cold sweat on the forehead. Many fear a sellout of the shipping site in Germany.

in Total, the Portfolio includes EUR 6.3 billion, including loans for real estate, aircraft and corporate customers. The largest part is attributable to ship loans, the Nordbank had co-financed according to market estimates, around 250 freighter. The privatisation of the Bank – a requirement of the EU Commission in return for aid from the States of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, had to get out of the Contaminated entirely from the balance sheet. A task which took over the new owners happy, because they received the loans, which had to be corrected, the Bank previously on several occasions to the detriment of a state guarantee to the countries, in value, at a bargain, making the whole Takeover of HSH Nordbank was really interesting.

“the impact on the shipping-Germany”

Now you can use it freely, for example by making performing loans due and the owner to the sales force. “I expect that in this way, a number of freighters are abroad rid of,” says a Banker who does not want to be called.

the Additional sensitivity of the topic gets, because also in Hanover, similar steps are planned. The local Landesbank, Nord LB, in need of fresh capital and expects to Friday, with binding offers of up to three financial investors Cerberus, Centerbridge and Apollo for a minority stake. In the event that these talks fail, is out on the savings banks Finance group, one of the Nord LB, as public-sector Bank, at their own solutions.

in Parallel should also be in Hanover boat loans dissolved out, in order to relieve the balance sheet. According to information from the F. A. Z. as a result, around 40 multi-purpose vessels (MPP) to go to the Hamburg shipping company, Auerbach, to have financial investors to the page fetched. To two far-larger portfolio called “Big Ben” and “Tower Bridge” for a total amount of 6.4 billion euros, behind which hundreds of Container ships and other ship types, but is interested in, such as in Hamburg, the New York-based Fund Cerberus. For at least one of the packages he has negotiated contracts and could be sitting soon on a huge ship fleet.