Shipping investor European Maritime Finance (EMF) has announced that its funds have received Article 9 classification.
According to a statement from the Copenhagen-based firm, EMF’s Green Harmony funds have achieved Article 9 compliance under the European Union’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, or SFDR.
Article 9 funds are financial products that invest with sustainability as their core objective.
Martin Haugaard, founder and chief executive of EMF, said: “We are thrilled to be among the first maritime funds to achieve Article 9 compliance, setting a new benchmark for sustainable investments in the industry.”
The Green Harmony funds are specifically designed to promote sustainability and combat climate change by exclusively investing in vessels that operate on CO2-free fuel and supply green ammonia to other industries.
“Our commitment to sustainability is deeply embedded in our portfolio construction, and we look forward to leading the way in the green transition,” Haugaard added.
The funds’ strategy centres around green ammonia, produced via Power-to-X technology, which emits no CO2.
EMF has invested in three very large ammonia carriers, each capable of transporting up to 88,000 cbm of green ammonia.
The three ships are being built by HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in collaboration with Atlas Maritime.
The trio will be named EMF Viking I, EMF Viking II and EMF Viking III and will be delivered by December 2027.
The vessels are EU taxonomy-eligible, and the fund’s investments are designed to meet the highest standards of sustainability and innovation.
EMF works closely with suppliers to minimise negative social and environmental impacts from shipbuilding to operation.
“Our strategic focus on reducing the carbon footprint of Scope 3 will certainly benefit entire customer groups in the shipping industry,” Haugaard said.
The investor has 16 vessels under construction, being delivered within the next six to 24 months. Three VLACs are on order and one ship is being operated under a three-year time charter with an oil major.
“European Maritime Finance is committed to delivering state-of-the-art vessels that meet the highest standards of sustainability and innovation, dedicated to setting new zero carbon benchmarks in the maritime industry,” Stephen Schueler, chairman of Green Transition Investment Committee and EMF chief operating officer, said.
EMF, which was founded in 2014, is an alternative investment fund manager-approved fund management company under the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.
The company is targeting to raise $450m to $500m for its new Green Harmony III fund, Haugaard told TradeWinds in June.
