Posted on September 2, 2026
By Peter Bowe
DredgeWire note:
We wrote this article based on publicly available sources without any independent verification on our own. We have cited our sources in all cases.
A widening Dutch investigation into suspected export-credit insurance fraud has reached a $123.7 million maritime financing and retrofit project involving Damen Shipyards, Blue Astra Maritime and several international financial companies.
The investigation is broader than shipping. Dutch authorities are examining suspected misuse of 14 Atradius Dutch State Business export-credit policies covering nine projects, potentially exposing the Dutch government to losses running into hundreds of millions of euros. But the Blue Astra/Damen transaction is the maritime project publicly identified in the investigation to date. (fiod.nl)
Damen itself has not been identified as a suspect.
The $123.7 Million Maritime Deal
The case centers on Amsterdam-based Atal Solutions, which structured financing for the purchase and environmental upgrading of four second-hand bulk carriers for Greek-controlled Blue Astra Maritime, also operating as BAM Shipping.
Atal arranged $123.7 million in financing, including $105.2 million in supplier credit, with the vessel owner providing approximately 15% equity. MetLife provided financing and Atradius Dutch State Business, acting on behalf of the Dutch government, provided export-credit insurance. (atal.solutions)
On July 3, Dutch financial-crimes investigators arrested three people in three criminal investigations and searched homes and businesses in the Netherlands and Austria. The FIOD said the suspected offenses include corruption, fraud and falsification of documents and that all three investigations involve suspected misuse of Atradius export-credit insurance. (fiod.nl)
Subsequent Dutch reporting identified the three suspects as Atal’s CEO, CFO and financial manager. Atal CEO and founder Edwin Sieswerda has denied wrongdoing, saying Atal performed KYC compliance checks on the companies involved. (nltimes.nl)
Who Was Involved
Atal’s own documentation identifies the principal participants in the maritime transaction:
- Blue Astra Maritime/BAM Shipping — vessel owner
- Atal Turnkey Projects — exporter and transaction arranger
- Damen Shipyards Group/Damen Green Solutions — retrofit and maritime technology partner
- MetLife — financier
- Atradius Dutch State Business — Dutch government-backed export-credit insurer
- Al Fareah General Land Transport LLC and Hilgam Goods Wholesalers LLC — UAE guarantors
- EXIM Finance — arranger of the guarantors. (atal.solutions)
Atradius’ own 2024 disclosure independently identifies Atal Projects B.V. as exporter, Blue Astra Maritime as debtor, and Hilgam and Al Fareah as guarantors. At the time, Atradius assessed the guarantors’ financial position as sufficient to meet their obligations. (atradiusdutchstatebusiness.nl
Those guarantees have since become central to the investigation. Atradius reportedly came to suspect that financial information concerning the UAE guarantors was inaccurate. (nltimes.nl)
Publicly available corporate information identifies Khalil Almashni as owner of Al Fareah and Junaid Pasha as a partner. EXIM Finance, which Atal says arranged the guarantees, has publicly identified Salah Ibrahim Al Nasser as a co-founder. Blue Astra’s managing partner has been publicly identified as Dimitris Samialis.
There is no public indication that any of those individuals has been accused of wrongdoing in the Dutch investigation.
Damen’s Role
Damen’s role was substantial but operational rather than financial. The shipbuilder supplied a package of fuel-saving and emission-reduction technologies for the four vessels.
When the partnership was announced, Damen said the retrofit should reduce fuel consumption by at least 20% and extend the vessels’ operating lives by approximately ten years. Damen described the financing structure as a potential breakthrough for commercially viable green retrofits of existing ships. (damen.com)
Sieswerda was similarly enthusiastic. Damen’s announcement identified him as Atal Solutions’ Founder and Managing Director, and quoted him predicting that many similar vessel projects could follow if the first four proved successful. (damen.com)
Financial Trouble Spreads to the Ships
The consequences are now reaching the vessels themselves.
Blue Astra sought court-supervised restructuring in the Cayman Islands in May. The proceedings identify the four vessel-owning companies as BAM Arion Co., BAM Despina Co., BAM Proteus Co. and BAM Triton Co. (offshorealert.com)
More recently, the BAM Arion was forced into a judicial sale following claims by crew members for unpaid wages. Dutch maritime reporting says the other three Blue Astra vessels have also been detained in various countries and that both Damen and Atradius have claims against the shipowner. (scheepvaart.headliner.nl)
The new investigation is particularly noteworthy because Damen separately faces a long-running Dutch criminal prosecution involving allegations of bribery, document falsification and money laundering connected with earlier international ship sales.
There is currently no public indication that Damen, Blue Astra, MetLife, EXIM Finance or the two UAE guarantors has been charged in the new Atal investigation.
For the maritime industry, however, the significance is considerable: a $123.7 million transaction once promoted as a model for financing the green retrofit of aging commercial vessels is now entangled in a major Dutch fraud investigation, financial restructuring and the forced sale and detention of the ships it financed.
