EBRD lends €22.5 million to Turkish tug builder Sanmar in €45 million Akbank package
The loan, half of a package arranged by Akbank under a risk-sharing facility, funds working capital for electric tugboats and a 5 MW solar plant for the yard's own use.
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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is lending €22.5 million to Sanmar Denizcilik Makina ve Ticaret, the Turkish tugboat builder, as part of a €45 million financing package arranged by Akbank, the EBRD said on 16 October. The bank's share is half of the package. It said the money will meet working capital needs as Sanmar expands production and delivery of fully electric tugboats.
The loan sits inside a risk-sharing facility between the EBRD and Akbank which, according to the EBRD statement, is aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-cap companies in Türkiye. The overall package includes a €5 million uncommitted tranche to support the installation of a 5 MW solar photovoltaic plant for Sanmar's own electricity consumption. An uncommitted tranche is one the lenders are not obliged to fund.
The statement does not give the tenor or pricing of the loan, or how the credit risk is divided between the two lenders.
What the money pays for
Sanmar was founded in 1976. The EBRD describes it as one of the world's leading tugboat manufacturers and, in the same release, credits it with a series of industry firsts: the world's first LNG-fuelled tugboats, the first remotely operated commercial vessel, Europe's first electric tugboat, the first methanol-fuelled tugboats and the first transverse tugboat.
The shipyard's own disclosures show the order book that the working capital will support. In a release dated 22 May, Sanmar said it had secured contracts for up to ten tugboats at the International Tug and Salvage convention in Gothenburg. They included five vessels for SAAM Towage, which Sanmar said brought the number of Sanmar-built vessels in SAAM's fleet to 18, one vessel for HAISEA Marine, and a first contract with Fairplay Towage Group for two tugs, with options for two more.
The same May release said Sanmar had delivered a green fleet to HAISEA in 2023 consisting of three fully electric ElectRA 2800SX tugboats and two dual-fuel LNG-powered RAstar 4000DF vessels.
According to project assessments cited by the EBRD, each electric tugboat is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 1,800 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year compared with a conventional diesel vessel. The solar plant is expected to avoid a further 2,600 tonnes a year.
Who said what
İdil Gürsel, the EBRD's deputy head of Türkiye, said in the statement: "Through our partnership with Sanmar and Akbank, we are supporting the development of cutting-edge electric maritime technologies while helping to advance the decarbonisation of the shipping sector."
Ali Gürün, whom the EBRD release identifies as chairman of Sanmar's board, said the company's long-standing environmental, social and governance commitment had enabled it "to meet the high standards required for this important financing partnership with the EBRD and Akbank." The shipyard's May release described Gürün as vice-chairman and chief executive.
Özlem Atik, executive vice-president for commercial banking at Akbank, said in the same release: "The €45 million financing we have provided to Sanmar Denizcilik, one of the leading players in the maritime sector, together with the EBRD, is an important example of this approach."
A long-running bank partnership
The Sanmar loan adds to a run of EBRD business with Akbank. In December 2025 the EBRD said it was providing a US$130 million (€112.4 million) package to the bank: up to US$70 million for on-lending to women-led SMEs, up to US$50 million for youth-led SMEs and US$10 million for digital investments by manufacturing SMEs. That package carried first-loss risk cover from the European Union's EFSD+ Growth4All guarantee and from the Turkish Treasury through the SME agency KOSGEB and the Credit Guarantee Fund, the EBRD said, and it described Akbank as one of its oldest partners in Türkiye.
The EBRD now says it has committed more than €26 billion in Türkiye since 2009, largely in the private sector. In the December 2025 statement the figure was more than €23 billion across 502 projects.
The release does not say how large the risk-sharing facility between the EBRD and Akbank is, or whether further loans under it are planned.