Speaking at SMM's Green Maritime Environment Congress in Hamburg, KfW IPEX-Bank's director of maritime industries said: "We see that such assets can ideally be employed worldwide and in Emission Control Areas (ECAs)."

She added this made them more attractive to charterers.

"This is a crucial element for us. The ships will have lower loan-to-value ratios and ultimately

better repayment potential," she added.

Welker said the bank had asked class society DNV to provide a tool to assess the CO2 output of vessels in 2010.