The Bank of Ireland has announced plans to exit the shipping business, winding down lending to the industry as it suffers from overcapacity and low demand, reported Reuters.
The bank told Reuters: “As previously stated, Bank of Ireland no longer lends within the shipping finance sector and we have been winding down the portfolio,”
At its peak the portfolio held by the Bank of Ireland was somewhere in the region of $2 billion before the global economic downturn and has been declining ever since.
This news follows Nord Bank’s decision to write off its shipping loans, plus Investec’s and Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to halt lending to the shipping industry.
Investec, whose portfolio was somewhere in the region of $1 billion confirmed to Reuters: “We are not taking any new loans in shipping at this time.”
