Global banks have emerged as key members of the ship financing market in 2025, according to the latest report on global ship financing, compiled by Petrofin Research.
The latest survey of global ship finance by Petrofin Research, which focuses primarily on the top 40 banks worldwide, found that last year the lending to shipping stood at $300.6bn, an increase of 6% from 2024’s total of $283.6bn.
BNP Paribas continues to head the bank ship finance, while there were no bank departures from ship finance in 2025, as the vast majority of banks remained positive towards shipping.
Europe still represents the biggest ship finance area at 50.4% of the top 40 banks, lending $151bn.
Asian and Australian banks (APAC) reversed their decline of 2024 and marked an 8.3% growth.
Interestingly, Japanese banks increased their share of the top 40 banks from 22% in 2024 to 26% in 2025. Similarly, US banks increased their portfolios by 6.7%.
Petrofin said Greek banks showed impressive year-on-year growth of 37%, with a total book of $23.6bn compared to $18bn in 2024. Greece’s market share increased to 7.8% from 6.1% in 2024. French and Belgian, Holland and Germany hover around the same percentages with a downward tendency.
The National Bank of Greece is at the top position of lenders to shipping, among Greek banks, followed by Eurobank, Piraeus Bank, and Alpha Bank. All four banks are now among the top 40 global ship finance banks.
Scandinavian banks also marked a substantial increase of 16.2%, reversing the previous year’s 8% reduction, reaching a 2025 total of $26.2bn.
According to Petrofin Research, the total global bank lending of all banks, including local banks, stood in the region of $425, just over 60% of all types of the global ship finance total. Petrofin provided a cautious, indicative figure for global ship finance, including all forms of lending – leasing, export finance and alternative providers – of approximately $680bn.
At the same time, the value of the global fleet and orderbook has increased to $2.17trn compared to $2.03tr the previous year, an increase of 7%.
The survey shows how geopolitical developments and US policies reshaped finance flows. During 2025, the US policies temporarily affected non-bank lending, as Chinese vessels and those acquired through Chinese leasing were targeted. 2024’s strong upward trend was temporarily halted and banks filled the gap with refinancings and fresh financings. However, Chinese leasing quickly resumed its growth, when the US threatened restrictions and penalties subsided.
Lending conditions also improved in 2025 in favour of borrowers as competition grew. Additionally, owners experienced good cashflows and increased liquidity especially as the year progressed.
Petrofin said lenders were not adversely affected by the geopolitical developments in the Middle East/Iran and the continued underlying differences between the US and China. The rise in ship finance was assisted by the rising market and vessel values as the year progressed.
The outlook is more cautious. On the banking side, competition continues with a further erosion of loan margins and more flexible terms. However, it should be noted that banks are aware that the markets are now capable of setbacks at some time in the future and have, thus, started being more careful on LTVs and look to lend to financially strong clients.
According to Petrofin Research, total global bank loans as of end of 2025 were estimated at approximately $425bn. This figure is expected to grow modestly in 2026/2027, augmented by newbuilding finance and the rising value of the global fleet, as well as lack of scrapping. The forecast for a modest growth is based on banks seeking to limit their risk and not increase LTVs.
Meanwhile, the major shipowning nations such as China, Greece and Japan, continue to order vessels. China leads the way with 72.8m GT followed by Greece at 53.2m GT and Japan at 27.4m GT. Similar ratios are seen for the alternative orderbook but with Japan in second place ahead of Greece in GT terms. Interestingly, Japan shows the greatest commitments to alternative fuels with 62% of its orders allocated to alternative fueled vessels compared to China’s 33% and Greece’s 26%.
