Key Equipment Finance, a division of KeyBank, announced it has served as the lead arranger of a group syndication providing $167.5 million in financing for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) container ship George III, which will join the Pasha Hawaii fleet serving the Hawaii trade lane. Based in Honolulu, Pasha Hawaii is one of the nation’s leading shipping and logistics companies.

The M/V George III is a 774-foot, LNG-fueled container ship that will be used to ship containers between Hawaii and mainland United States. The vessel is expected for delivery in late 2020.

“We are thrilled to deliver a financing solution to help with the construction of the newest vessel to join Pasha Hawaii’s fleet,” said Jim Mestnik, Director of Capital Markets for Key Equipment Finance. “Even in these uncertain times, we continue to be focused on supporting our clients and communities and appreciate the backing of a diversified bank group representing institutions from the northeast mainland to Hawaii. The highly efficient George III will be servicing Hawaii for years to come.”

Key Equipment Finance’s capital markets group leverages its asset diversity and deep industry expertise to deliver syndication functions to clients in a wide range of industries, from marine to healthcare, IT, manufacturing and more.

“We are pleased to complete financing on the M/V George III with Key – an extraordinary result during these extraordinary times,” said George Pasha, IV, President and CEO of The Pasha Group, which is the parent company to Pasha Hawaii. “This is an important milestone for the re-fleeting plans for Pasha Hawaii that will provide a state-of-the art LNG-powered vessel built specifically to meet the needs of the mainland/Hawaii market. This project brought nearly 1,500 skilled jobs to the Keppel team in Texas and will assure excellent livelihoods for many members of the team supporting the Pasha family of companies for years to come.”

The Key Equipment Finance team was led by Ronnie Evans, Brandon Hannaman and Jim Mestnik.