船舶金融의 圓滑化를 위한 船舶投資會社制度의 導入에 관한 硏究

Abstract

The Korean marine transportation industry accounts for 5% of the world's total transportation of goods (5.3billion tons) and it transported 99.7% of Korea's entire export and import with earning 11.3 billion dollars in 2000.

The securing of new and old ships which are an important basis of marine transportation industry has not been implemented since the foreign exchange crisis in 1997. The advanced countries are achieving competitiveness by securing stabilized shipping craft. The foreign exchange crisis triggered our country to consider to the introduction of the ship investment corporation system.

This study is to discuss the major benefits of the introduction of the ship investment corporation. Before discussing the introduction of the ship investment corporation, we will review our ship finance systems. And then we will examine systems the systems and operation results of Germany's K/G Fund and Norway's K/S Fund.

We have many kinds of ship finance, which are the planned shipbuilding system, BBCHP fund for introducing used shipping craft, and export fund. The planned shipbuilding, which has been developed as a policy of reinforcing shipping craft upon the basis of the five-year economic plan for connecting shipbuilding and marine transportation industry, has been given 80% of the fund for shipbuilding, based on the bringing up of marine transportation industry since 1976. This fund made a great contribution to the augmentation of shipping craft at the beginning of the domestic marine transportation industry. Shipping companies, however, avoided the use of the planned shipbuilding system because of the securing of the additional fund and high interest rate. As our country joined the OECD in 1996, this system has been abolished in the sector of the ocean-going ships, and 80% of total fund for the shipbuilding of home-waters liners has been provided.

As for the BBCHP, 100% loan for the cost of shipbuilding and various financial expenses can be borrowed from foreign financial institutions. The borrowers can pay back on equal installment basis over the period of 10~20 years and the ships transporting cargos for long-term contract basis have an advantage of securing ships without the investment of capital. Since the second half of 1980, about one billion dollars have been assigned for the ceiling of domestic shipbuilding responsibility and for the ceiling of the borrowing of fund from abroad. However, at the time of the foreign exchange crisis, the ceiling of the fund from abroad was abolished and the system has been changed so that a shipping company could borrow money on credit. It became possible for a shipping company having a lot of debts either to be unable to borrow money or to borrow money with high rate of interest. BBCHP fund for introducing used shipping craft has an advantage of securing ships within the short period of time.

There are various kinds of sources borrowing including loans, lease financing, the fund of the Bank of Korea. However, in most cases the foreign exchange of the Bank of Korea was utilized. Nevertheless, the lending of the foreign exchange of the Bank of Korea was suspended because of the foreign exchange crisis. The export fund of the Export and Import Bank is a system which foreign ships cannot be supported with this fund and foreign shipping companies utilizing the domestic shipbuilding yards can get this fund. Thus, Korean financial system of securing ships has a problem of flimsiness.

The American system of the financing for ships is to provide long-term financing on a low interest rate in order to expedite the growth and modernization of a body of merchant vessels and shipbuilding yards. The Japanese system of financing for ships is a Japan's planned shipbuilding system for reviving the body of the Japanese merchant vessels. This system has been introduced in order to reconstruct the body of merchant vessels by the government. Because of the government policy, Japan has become an advanced country in marine transportation and grown as a great country of shipbuilding.

Germany's K/G(Kommandit Gessellschaft) is a fund which operates not only ships, but also real estate. Recently, real estate tends to be on the decline and ships tends to be gradually active. According to K/G Fund, the company investing in ships borrows fund from general public investors and financial institutions and invest them in ships. The companies operating ships cannot offer their profits as mortgage nor can they rent, nor can they transfer them. In case the company investing in ships or stockholders come to suffer damage, they should be jointly and severally responsible for the directors and auditors of the company operating ships and the related company operating ships. The company investing in ships should consign the task as keeping its assets to the company keeping assets, and the procedure and criteria keeping or taking out asset are to be decided by presidents's order.

The assets of the company investing in ships, the proper assets of the company keeping them, and the assets consigned by the third party should be managed separately. In case damage occurs to the company investing in ships and to stock holders, the company keeping assets is to be responsible for the damages. In order to secure the transparency in operation, the company investing in ships limits the number of ships to one ship to one company(single purpose company). K/G Fund is being operating on a long-term and stable basis in which the tax benefit is gradually bing swindled. It should be decided within 10 years after the delivery of a ship whether it is to be applied to tonnage tax, the ship should maintain German nationality for a decade.

Norway's K/S(Kommandit Selskap) fund has been utilized in the field of marine transportation industry since 1920, and recently it has been made use of a lot in the field of real estate. K/S fund, a joint-venture company like K/G, applies 17% of high speed refunding. The period of continued existence of the Fund is two years for short term, so that it has a venture style management. Norway doesn't connect Tonnage Tax with K/S, but applies it to registered ships.

As we reviewed K/G and K/S funds, the introduction of the ship investment corporation system could contribute to promotion of the ship finance in Korea. We suggest some ideas to utilize the ship investment corporation in Korea. Firstly, it is necessary to introduce tonnage tax system for the successful introduction of the ship investment corporation. Secondly, the ship investment corporations provide the higher rate of return compared to others. Finally, the investment on ship should be recognized by investors as a safe investment instrument.