Germany’s five largest lenders are wrestling with outstanding shipping loans of €59bn ($66bn), with DVB Bank and Norddeutsche Landesbank (Nord/LB) topping the list for problem loans, according to a report by Moody’s Investor Service.

It warns that banks will need to shore up capital to deal with potential losses as a result of greater scrutiny pending from the European Central Bank (ECB), which has warned it will conduct in-depth, on-site inspections over the next 18 months of banks exposed to ship lending to identify remedial actions.