Fleet Sale-and-Leaseback Board Adviser

The mandate

Management proposes selling eight vessels and chartering them back to relieve maturity pressure, presenting proceeds net of debt as immediate liquidity. The board pack gives less attention to fixed charter obligations, dry-dock exposure, return condition, purchase options and covenant classification. Directors need an independent whole-life comparison with secured debt, vessel sale and smaller fleet alternatives.

The adviser will reserve three working days in each of eight months for a vessel-cohort review, financing challenge and chair brief. Five finance-and-fleet committee sessions and four vessel, lessor or lender evidence reviews are included. The adviser joins negotiations only when directors request analysis of a specified term and never represents management to counterparties.

The appointment ends at execution or the board’s final decision not to proceed, subject to an eight-month maximum. Renewal for monitoring or refinancing must be separately authorised after an updated conflict review; the role does not continue for the lease life. Time unused after an early decision expires and cannot convert to success compensation.

There is no line authority and no executive responsibility for fleet, financing, negotiation, accounting, tax, legal documentation, vessel sale or charter execution. Management negotiates and directors approve. The adviser may challenge economics and recommend an alternative but cannot communicate acceptance, sign a term sheet or issue a valuation opinion.

Relationships with proposed lessors, lenders, brokers, yards, managers, insurers, valuers or vessel buyers create conflicts requiring disclosure before the related cohort is reviewed. Holdings in group debt or counterparty funds must be declared. Brokerage, completion fees and remuneration linked to proceeds or selected bidder are prohibited.

Why the board wants this voice

Treasury is focused on immediate liquidity, fleet teams prioritise vessel availability and lessors optimise long-duration return. Headline proceeds can obscure future operating inflexibility and residual transfer. Independent maritime finance experience can help directors compare full economics without conducting the transaction. The review must also distinguish accounting presentation, contractual cash burden and operational optionality before directors commit scarce vessels.

What you will own

• Challenge vessel value, debt release, transaction cost, cash proceeds and balance-sheet treatment by cohort.
• Model charter hire, indexation, maintenance, dry dock, insurance, return condition, options and early termination.
• Compare sale-and-leaseback with secured refinancing, outright disposal, equity support and staged fleet reduction.
• Test downside across freight rates, utilisation, off-hire, interest, residual value and covenant definitions.
• Examine lessor credit, repossession, substitution, operational control and concentration consequences beyond price.
• Shape board stop points for condition findings, documentation change, lost headroom and unacceptable fleet restriction.
• Frame source-linked lifetime economics, alternatives, unresolved specialist inputs, accountable follow-ups and committee decisions for every vessel cohort.

Candidate qualifications

• Advised boards or held treasury authority for vessel sale-and-leaseback and maritime asset financing.
• Built vessel-specific cohort economics covering charter hire, maintenance reserves, dry dock, return conditions, renewal options and residual value.
• Compared leaseback with secured debt, outright disposal, covenant cure and shareholder-equity alternatives during genuine liquidity pressure.
• Challenged accounting and covenant assumptions while leaving formal conclusions to appointed specialists.
• Assessed lessor strength and operational restrictions alongside headline proceeds and financing cost.
• Maintained independence from lessors, lenders, brokers, managers, valuers and vessel buyers.

Non-negotiables

• Can attend five Helsinki committee sessions and four vessel, lessor or lender evidence reviews within eight months.
• Will disclose lessor, lender, broker, yard, manager, insurer, valuer and vessel-buyer relationships.
• Brings maritime sale-and-leaseback governance; generic equipment finance or leasing coverage is insufficient.
• Accepts no authority to negotiate, value, classify, sell, charter, finance or approve a vessel transaction.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe a fleet leaseback where return condition or charter rigidity outweighed upfront proceeds.
2. 49 words maximum. Which lessor, lender, broker or vessel interest could require your recusal?
3. 49 words maximum. What downside case best compares leaseback with secured refinancing?