The German development bank KfW-Ipex has led the financing on a new cruise ship, for Star Cruises.

The cost of the ship is €600mn and it will be built in the Meyer Werft shipyard, Papenburg, Germany.

KfW-Ipex was the structuring bank and will be joined in the lending by Crédit Agricole and DNB Bank. Euler Hermes has issued export credit insurance for the ship.

The tenor of the loan is 12 years, from delivery.

Christian Murach, a member of KfW-Ipex’s management board, says: “With this high-volume financing, we are underlining both our expertise in structuring within the cruise ship industry and our role as one of the world’s leading players in ship financing. We are also helping to support German exporters, especially North Germany as a shipbuilding location.”

The ship will have 1,600 passenger cabins and 18 decks. It will be one of Asia’s largest cruise ships.

Meyer Werft has also been commissioned to build a sister ship by Star Cruises, which will be delivered in 2017.