For partners and investors
Marine Trade Finance originates short-tenor receivables in the maritime sector. We work with debt funds and credit facilities looking for collateralised, self-liquidating trade finance assets with identifiable underlying buyers.
MTF originates financing for physical fuel suppliers, ship agents, ship chandlers and port service providers, against invoices issued to shipowners, operators and charterers. Tenors run 30 to 90 days. Debtors are operating companies in the commercial shipping sector with verifiable revenue and trading history. The receivable is born at the moment of delivery — bunkers loaded, services rendered, port costs incurred — and extinguished when the debtor pays.
The global bunker market is estimated at around $150 billion per year. Physical suppliers are typically paid within 7 to 15 days because they lack the balance sheet to extend terms, while shipowners and operators routinely request 60 to 90 days because fuel is their largest single operating cost. That gap — structural, persistent, and ignored by banks below a certain ticket size — is the market MTF addresses.
MTF acts as originator and servicer. Financing is provided by third-party debt facilities. Each transaction is matched to the funding partner best suited to the debtor profile, the tenor and the jurisdiction. We do not take balance sheet risk on the underlying receivables; we originate, structure and service the deal flow.
Every facility MTF originates sits against a defined underlying transaction: fuel delivered, port costs incurred, agency services rendered. The debtor is an identified commercial shipping company. The tenor is fixed at origination. The receivable extinguishes itself when the debtor pays — there is no residual, no renewal risk, and no dependency on the supplier's continued trading.
| Asset type | Short-tenor trade receivables — maritime sector |
| Underlying debtors | Shipowners, operators and charterers — worldwide |
| Tenor | 30 to 90 days |
| Origination basis | Delivery confirmed, invoice issued, debtor identified |
| Structure | Issued invoices financed — with or without notice to the debtor — and early-payment programmes on approved supplier invoices |
| Recourse | Non-recourse structures available against creditworthy debtors |
Risk and compliance
Every facility MTF originates is built to protect the funding partner's capital. Diligence and structure come before funding, not after.
Every deal is built by maritime operators — documentation that lines up, the right transaction structure, and terms that fit how the vessel actually trades. It reaches the funder already shaped to operational reality.
Counterparties, beneficial owners and vessels are screened against OFAC, EU, UN and UK sanctions lists before any deal funds. Higher-risk jurisdictions are handled with enhanced due diligence.
Each receivable sits against an identified commercial debtor and a defined, delivered transaction — delivery confirmed, invoice issued, debtor known. No blind risk, no residual.
Full diligence and screening files are available to funding partners under NDA.
The team
Marine Trade Finance is built by a team with more than 25 years in bunkering, ship agency, freight forwarding and maritime operations. We have run the legal, operational and commercial detail of shipping first-hand — the work that decides whether a deal closes cleanly.
That operating experience spans West Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, offshore vessel management and tramp shipping. We assess a receivable the way an operator would, and package it the way a funder needs to see it.
We originate recurring, short-tenor maritime receivables for debt funds and credit facilities seeking self-liquidating trade finance assets. If you manage a trade finance or specialty finance book and want to see the deal flow and underwriting process, write to us.
investors@marinetradefinance.com