A resolution, of sorts, has emerged at long last for Germany’s embattled HSH Nord­bank, with agreement between European and German authorities on how to handle the bank’s debts.

But the ultimate fate of what was until relatively recently the world’s largest shipping lender remains to be determined by how palatable the deal is to the German taxpayer and public markets. And that will potentially have a great influence on the future shape of the region’s shipping community.

Europe’s