KDB taps 2-tln-won fund to buy vessel

SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- The state-run Korea Development Bank (KDB) has bought
a vessel from a local shipping line as part of an effort to bolster the ailing
shipping industry, the bank said Monday.

The purchase of the bulk ship from Korea Line Corp. was the first to use a 2
trillion won (US$1.72 billion) fund launched in July to buttress the shipping
industry, according to the KDB. The shipping sector was hit especially hard by
falling sea freight and shipping rates amid the global economic downturn.
The vessel is to be completed in May next year, and was acquired for its market
value of $67 million. It will be leased back to the original owner, the KDB said.
The purchase was 54 percent funded by Canadian lender Nova Scotia Bank with the
KDB providing the rest of the money, KDB said.
"KDB plans to complete the purchase of eight vessels by the end of this year," a
KDB official said.
The fund pooled by the KDB and a few more companies was designed to provide
liquidity to financially ailing shipping companies while protecting shipbuilders
from vessel order cancellations, the bank said.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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