On the back of this, the bank’s managing director for global banking & markets, Andrew Paulson, admitted that RBS would “like to be doing a lot more in the sector”.

Speaking at TOC Europe in Rotterdam, Mr Paulson said that ports raised $16bn in global debt markets last year, representing just 10% of the global financing market.

“Your industry is very global in its nature but the debt financing is actually a little bit behind,” he said. “Ten percent actually feels quite small which is illustrative of the opportunity for debt capital to come into your sector and finance projects.”

Going forward, Mr Paulson advised ports to view financing as an enabler rather than a driver for achieving business goals. He also recognised the challenge of larger ships and carrier partnerships.

“As the market is changing with bigger ships and bigger alliances the financing proposition can only be as efficient as the equipment around it. Productivity is key as is the revenue generated by those movements and that’s what financiers look for.”

RBS has led 22 transactions and raised over E11bn for the sector since 2011.