THE only untapped resources in the ship financing sector are the local banks in Asia, according to Khalid Moinuddin Hashim, managing director, Precious Shipping Public.

"None of them are exposed to the toxic waste otherwise known as sovereign debt from any of the EU countries. They would be in the best position to lend to Asian shipowners who would be able to get better deals from them than from their traditional shipping bankers.

"But to do that you would need a strong balance sheet, good risk management systems in place and some sort of a relationship with them," he told the 5th Annual Shipping Finance Asia Summit.