Seahawk Launches Maritime Credit Fund for Smaller Owners
Seahawk Investments, backed by Transport Capital, has launched a Luxembourg maritime credit fund to provide senior loans and leases to mid-sized shipping
Frankfurt-based Seahawk Investments has launched a direct ship lending fund. The Seahawk Maritime Credit Fund (SMCF) will provide senior secured loans and financial leases to smaller and mid-sized shipping owners.
Seahawk, an investment manager backed by Singapore's Transport Capital, established the Luxembourg-domiciled fund. Its first sub-fund is backed by an unnamed maritime family office. The firm did not disclose the fund's size or its target returns.
Fund Strategy and Target Market
The fund will offer individual loan tenors of up to seven years. Its mandate is broad, covering a wide range of vessel types and maritime assets.
The main targets are smaller and mid-sized shipping companies and maritime investors seeking use. Seahawk is pitching the strategy at a part of the market that remains less well served. This is despite a broader recovery in bank appetite for shipping.
The Financing Gap for Smaller Owners
According to data cited by Splash, lending by the world's top 40 shipping banks increased 6% last year to $300.6 billion. Petrofin estimates total bank lending to shipping at around $425 billion. The wider finance market, including leasing and alternative capital, is approximately $680 billion.
The rebound has not been evenly spread. Petrofin noted banks are becoming more cautious on loan-to-value ratios. They are increasingly focused on financially stronger borrowers as ship prices remain high. Société Générale has described 2026 as a well-supplied ship finance market overall. It also noted that smaller owners are increasingly tapping private credit funds.
Seahawk is moving into that gap. The fund said it will take an anti-cyclical approach. It will focus on relatively generic and liquid assets with transparent secondhand values. It will not concentrate on a single vessel segment. Transactions can be structured under English, Norwegian, Danish, and Dutch law.
A Growing Non-Bank Lending Sector
The move puts Seahawk alongside a growing group of non-bank lenders. Splash reported last year that Pelagic Partners' MareVia Credit Fund completed its first transaction. It financed three multipurpose vessels under five-year bareboat arrangements. Earlier this year, Eurazeo secured a €175 million first closing for its second sustainable maritime infrastructure fund. That fund also provides senior secured asset-backed financing to small and mid-sized European shipowners.
Leadership and Structure
Seahawk has brought in veteran shipping banker Michael de Visser to build the new business. De Visser joined the company in August as managing director and head of credit investments. He has more than 30 years in credit, including a decade heading shipping at Dutch lender NIBC Bank. He also served as a senior adviser to Transport Capital.
The appointment brings him back together with Transport Capital, where he had been advising since 2024. Transport Capital was set up in Singapore in 2013 by Philip Clausius and other former First Ship Lease executives. Clausius previously oversaw around $1 billion of maritime asset acquisitions, financing, and deployment during his decade at First Ship Lease.
Transport Capital is the majority shareholder of Seahawk. Seahawk was established in 2018 as the group's regulated investment management arm. It already runs an equity long-short strategy focused on transport and energy. It also runs a credit opportunities fund investing in transportation, energy, and utilities debt. The new vehicle moves the platform directly into loans and leases secured against ships.
Universal Investment Luxembourg will serve as alternative investment fund manager and administrator. DZ Privatbank is the depositary, Arendt & Medernach is legal counsel, and Deloitte is the auditor.
