TFG Marine has signed a working capital financing facility of up to $300m with DBS Bank, with the arrangement utilising electronic bunker delivery notices (eBDNs) to support transaction verification.
The facility will fund TFG Marine’s working capital requirements and strengthen the company’s liquidity position. The marine fuel supplier, which is a joint venture between Trafigura Group, Frontline and CMB.Tech, supplies over 10 million metric tonnes of marine fuels annually across 35 bunkering locations globally.
The financing arrangement incorporates eBDNs provided through TFG Marine’s collaboration with ZeroNorth and Singapore Trade Data Exchange Services (SGTraDex). The digital documentation provides a verifiable, real-time record of bunker deliveries to support audit and verification of financed transactions.
TFG Marine has previously worked with ZeroNorth to deploy digital bunker delivery solutions across multiple regions, including at the Port of Sohar in Oman, which the companies describe as the first eBDN deployment in the Middle East.
Bennett Pekkattil, Chief Financial Officer of TFG Marine, commented: “We are grateful for DBS’ support and encouraged by their recognition of the greater need for digital transparency in the marine fuels industry. We hope that more financial institutions will follow their lead, and we look forward to continuing to develop our digital capabilities in support of more efficient and resilient supply chains.”
Terence Yong, Global Head of Sales, Global Transaction Services at DBS Bank, stated: “Through this deal with TFG Marine, we are proud to have championed a further benchmark in digital trade financing, now for the marine fuel industry. This digital financing solution provides expanded trade capacity, improves transparency and operational efficiency, reduces trade risk and eliminates friction.”
Nicolas Queru, Chief Growth Officer at ZeroNorth, said: “This transaction is a great example of the growing financial value of trusted data. Greater transparency can strengthen confidence across the transaction chain and improve access to capital.”
Jefferson Wong, CEO of SGTraDex Services and COO of DEX, described the facility as marking a shift from on-request use of eBDNs to a model where banks can access eBDNs on demand.
DBS Bank is headquartered in Singapore and operates across 19 markets in Asia. SGTraDex, launched in June 2022, is a public-private partnership founded by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority and industry participants to facilitate supply chain data sharing.
