Marine Money, a leading publication dedicated to the business of ship finance, voted the USD 438 million Syndicated Islamic Shipping Facility as “the Structured Finance Deal of the Year 2007”. BNP Paribas acted as Mandated Lead Arranger Bookrunner, Security Agent and Documentation Agent. NSCSA is ranked the 4th largest ship owner in the Middle East region in the VLCCs’ segment. This is the first shipping deal for BNP Paribas structured under Islamic Finance and the first Islamic Syndicated Shipping deal for NSCSA. It is considered by NSCSA as a benchmark for future syndicated Islamic ship facilities. This transaction involved Transportation Group with its Shipping Finance team in Geneva, ECEP’s Regional Team in Bahrain and BNP Paribas Najmah in Bahrain (the bank’s Islamic Banking division).