EnTrust Global’s Blue Ocean maritime finance platform has closed Blue Ocean Income Fund IV with $1.3 billion in committed capital, giving insurance investors a more capital-efficient way to access asset-backed maritime financing opportunities.
The fourth vintage is Blue Ocean’s largest rated-notes insurance fund to date and brings total capital raised by the strategy to $5 billion since 2023 and $7.6 billion since Blue Ocean launched in 2017. The fund has already begun deploying capital across multiple transactions.
Blue Ocean focuses on providing flexible, asset-backed financing to shipowners and operators across major shipping segments.
The strategy is designed to address a structural financing gap that developed as traditional banks reduced maritime lending following the Global Financial Crisis. Regulatory changes and a greater focus on large publicly traded shipowners have left many small and midsize operators increasingly dependent on alternative sources of capital.
Blue Ocean Income Fund IV was structured primarily for U.S. insurance investors, with its notes rated by a major global rating agency.
EnTrust said the fund attracted significant commitments from both new insurance investors and existing investors that increased their allocations compared with previous vintages.
The platform has also developed considerable deployment scale.
As of June 30, 2026, Blue Ocean had invested a total of $7.2 billion across 127 investments since inception while returning approximately $3.5 billion of invested capital to investors.
The investment team now includes 29 professionals globally and combines maritime industry expertise with credit underwriting and transaction structuring.
Insurance capital represents approximately 20% of EnTrust Global’s worldwide client base. The firm’s Insurance Solutions group works with insurers on strategies designed around considerations including capital efficiency, ratings treatment, risk-adjusted return objectives and predictable cash flow.
EnTrust Global manages approximately $17.8 billion in total assets for roughly 600 institutional clients.
Its strategies span private and public markets with a focus on opportunistic credit and equity, along with sector-specific investing in maritime and sports, media and entertainment.
KEY QUOTES:
“Fund IV is our largest rated notes fund to date, and it includes significant commitments from insurance investors who are new to the Blue Ocean strategy, as well as investors who participated in prior vintages and have increased their commitments for Fund IV.”
Gregg S. Hymowitz, Chairman and CEO of EnTrust Global
“Our continuing success, both in terms of fund raising and capital deployment, is a reflection of what we have built at EnTrust Global.”
Svein Engh, Senior Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Blue Ocean
