Nordic American Tankers News

Shipowner Nordic American Tankers (NAT) on Thursday said it has entered an agreement to purchase a secondhand suezmax tanker.The South Korean built vessel has been "operated and well maintained by a top shipowner the last 6 to 7 years", Herbjorn Hansson, NAT founder, chairman and CEO, wrote in a letter to shareholders and investors."The vessel is purchased on a charter free basis and we intend to finance the purchase with a sale leaseback financing – an arrangement that has worked very well for us in the past," NAT said.

Nordic American Tankers (NAT) announced it has sold a 2003-built suezmax tanker for $21 million net. The buyer is a major international energy company, NAT said without disclosing the name of the company.The vessel will be delivered to its new owner in the fourth quarter of 2022.NAT said it will use the cash proceeds from the sale to reduce its debt as the company aims to become debt free.

Nordic American Tankers Ltd (NAT) announced on Wednesday that one of its Suexmax tankers commenced a one-year time charter contract.The 2010-built tanker has gone to work with "one of the world’s largest energy companies" at a rate in excess of $ 30,000 per day, NAT said. The company did not reveal the name of the vessel."This is one example showing that NAT is well placed for the significant upswing we now see in rates for our ships," said Herbjorn Hansson, founder, chairman and CEO of Nordic American Tankers.The NAT fleet currently consists of 20 suezmax vessels, the company said, noting that the operating expenses of its vessels average $8,000 per day.

Nordic American Tankers said it has added two suezmax tankers to its fleet. The newbuilds, NAT's first delivered since 2018, both have long term contracts.The 157,094 dwt Nordic Harrier was delivered on May 13 from Samsung shipyard in South Korea. The second vessel, to be named Nordic Hunter, is 156,800 dwt and will be delivered from Samsung within the next few days, NAT said. The ships were ordered in 2020.Both tankers have six-year contracts with Oman's ASYAD Shipping Company. The time charters will generate an aggregate revenue of more than $100 million, New York-listed NAT said when it announced the deals in February.The newbuilds are fully financed via Ocean Yield, a company controlled by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), which is headquartered in the U.S.

Tanker shipping company Nordic American Tankers on Friday took delivery of a suezmax newbuild from shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.The 157,000-dwt crude oil tanker is named Nordic Harrier, which was the first NAT ship when becoming stocklisted on the New York Stock Exchange in 1995.The ship, which is on a 10-year bareboat charter to NAT from Norwegian shipowner Ocean Yield, will commence a contract for six years to ASYAD Shipping Company of the Sultanate of Oman. "The contract is producing earnings and cashflow as from delivery from the yard, creating financial stability and a further foothold in this important area," New York-listed NAT said in a letter to investors and shareholders.

Tanker shipping company Nordic American Tankers (NAT) announced Wednesday it has lined up six-year time charters for a pair of Suezmax newbuilds scheduled to be delivered from South Korea later this year.The contracts for the 156,800 dwt tankers are with Oman-based ASYAD Shipping Company, and they will commence upon delivery from the shipyard in May and June.Herbjorn Hansson, NAT board chairman, president, CEO, said, “Our business is expanding in the Middle East, which is an important area for our operations.

Tanker shipping company Nordic American Tankers (NAT) announced on Wednesday it has sold the 164,236 dwt Suezmax Nordic Mistral.New York-listed NAT did not reveal the buyer, but said the vessel is slated to be handed over to the new owner later this month. The 274-meter-long ship was built in 2002 by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in South Korea.The sale is NAT's second in recent months. In October 2021, the company announced the sale of 2000-built Nordic Sirius, since renamed Ocean Peri.NAT, which in July 2021 revealed plans to sell the vessels as part of a fleet renewal program, said it sold the two ships for about $30 million combined.NAT now controls a fleet of 23 Suezmaxes, including two 156,800 dwt newbuilds scheduled to be delivered from South Korea in May and June this year.

The recent slowdown in the oil tanker market is expected to be short-lived, shipowner Nordic American Tankers (NAT) said Friday in a letter to shareholders.NAT, which owns 25 suezmaxes including the two newbuilds on order from South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries for delivery in 2022, said it has been receiving many comments and questions regarding the current market situation."There has been a certain lull in the market recently, which we regard as a short term phenomenon," the company said. "NAT is in a positive phase of development."NAT, which is preparing to publish its results on November 16, said, "A company can go three ways: sideways, downwards or upwards.

Nordic American Tankers (NAT) told investors on Friday that it has lined up full financing for two new tankers on order from South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries. The newbuilds are the first to be ordered by NAT since 2016.The shipowner said it entered into a financing agreement with a subsidiary of Ocean Yield ASA for the Suezmax pair, which are due for delivery in the first half of 2022. "It is an advantage to secure the long term financing for these two newbuildings at an early stage and with an existing lender," NAT said, adding it aims to become a debt free company.The financing is for up to 80% of the newbuilding price, and the agreements are based on a 10-year bareboat charter for each vessel.

Nordic American Tankers (NAT) said it has ordered two suezmax newbuilds from South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries, the shipowner's first newbuild orders in four years as slumping shipbuilders lower prices to attract business."The combination of specifications, quality of yard, price, payment terms and deliveries make this an attractive investment for NAT and is consistent with our strategy to expand and renew our fleet," the company said in a letter to shareholders.The two new tankers, scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2022, will grow NAT's suezmax fleet to 25 vessels.NAT said it will consider various financing alternatives prior to delivery.The payment terms of the newbuildings are 10/10/10/10 with 60% of the building price on deliveries…

Bermuda-headquartered Nordic American Tankers (NAT) said that its tanker segment is on upswing mode following he strong market improvement for its Suezmax tankers."However, seeing is believing and if anyone had doubts, last week, the international shipbroking firm of Clarkson Platou Research reported the largest week-on-week increase in the history of their freight index,"pointed out the company.From Thursday to Friday last week, reported Suezmax rates jumped 60% on the day and 400% on the month, it said.NAT’s uniform fleet of 23 Suezmax tankers have 21 units trading in the open spot market, ready to benefit from strengthening freights.Presently the Suezmax spot market is reported to about $68,000/day, and rising.

The world Suezmax fleet (excl. shuttle, product & Jones Act tankers) counts 517 vessels at the end of 2Q2019, said Nordic American Tankers (NAT).During 2018, 28 suezmax vessels were delivered from the shipyards and 21 vessels were scrapped, the international tanker company said in an announcement."For 2019 we expect a similar number of new deliveries as in 2018. In 2020 we currently see 22 vessels scheduled for delivery," it said.The supply of tanker tonnage is inelastic in the short-term. When there are too many ships in an area, rates tend to go down. When there is scarcity of ships, rates tend to go up. Short-term spot tanker rates may be expected to be volatile.NAT pointed out that in light of trade war headlines currently…

Bermuda-based international tanker company Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) has reiterated that it believes scrubbers are not a solution for the company based upon a conservative financial policy."NAT does not take on risk it does not have to," it said.An increased number of ports now prohibit or impose strict requirements on the use of scrubbers, which purify emissions from large ships.The scrubber cleans the exhaust from vessels for Sulfur and emit impure water into the sea, and that is what the ports now will put an end to. Therefore, we still do not see that this new requirement is an issue for NAT.Nordic American Tankers points to a Reuters article of July 04 on the potential ban by Norwegian authorities of scrubbers.NAT recalled its statement on  October 24…

Bermuda-based Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) said in a press release that the last 12 months have been the busiest period for the international tanker company.Sale of 10 suezmax vessels and delivery of 3 new suezmax units took place in the last six months of 2018 and ensured a renewal of its fleet which count suezmaxes only. The operating costs for the NAT fleet came down further, a release said."Maximizing dividend is our strategy. We also aim at reducing the debt level and thereby lowering the cash break even further," NAT said.The new 5-year loan of $306 million that NAT announced in February this year, is a key element in this strategy of maximizing dividend and reducing debt…

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) has fixed a one year or more time charter (TC) for one of the NAT suezmax vessels.NAT's Samsung built suezmax, the Nordic Zenith, has obtained a term contract. The new contract is expected to commence on expiration of the present spot employment and it could last 12 to 15 months.The contract was entered into with the first-class charterer, Equinor, an energy company headquartered in Norway. Equinor is a major stocklisted company and one of the largest of its type worldwide."Last year we entered into a term contract with the same user for a period of minimum 3 years," said a press release from the Bermuda-based tanker company.Over the years, NAT has bought several vessels built at Samsung Shipyard in South Korea, including the Nordic Zenith.

The world Suezmax fleet (excl. shuttle, product & Jones Act tankers) counts 514 vessels at the end of 1Q2019, said Nordic American Tankers (NAT).The total delivery during 2018 was 28 vessels, said a report by the  international tanker company."For 2019 we expect a similar number of vessels as in 2018, and in 2020 we currently see 22 vessels scheduled for delivery. During 2018, 21 Suezmax vessels were scrapped," it said.According to the report, the world economy is enjoying its strongest upswing since 2010. What is good for the world economy and world trade is by nature positive for the crude oil tanker business. In addition to the role of major oil companies…

The Council on Ethics of the Government Pension Fund Global (Oil Fund), Norway's $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund (SWF), said that it will turn its attention towards Indian shipbreaking practices.The SWF cautioned that this may well result in further divestments from shipping companies with poor shipbreaking records.In 2018, the Council on Ethics had already advised the fund to divest from companies, including container line Evergreen, selling their end-of-life vessels to shipbreaking yards located in Pakistan and Bangladesh “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies are contributing to serious environmental damage and gross violations of human rights”.KLP, Norway’s largest private pension fund, followed suit and blacklisted the same companies.

Nordic American Tankers (NAT) reported a net loss for 4Q2018, came in at -$10.5 million. This was a substantial improvement from the previous quarter (3Q2018) which saw a net loss of -$37.9 million. "It is important to note that we have concluded a refinancing of the company with CSG CSG Investments, Inc, funded by Beal bank Texas, USA. This refinancing strengthens the position of nat going forward. The new capital structure allows for greater flexibility as regards dividend payments," the Bermuda-based company said.NAT is well positioned in the tanker market, it added. The historic average market rate for the last 25 years was about $30,000 per day per Suezmax vessel.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Greece and the United States of America (USA) top the list of country dumpers of ocean-going commercial vessels in 2018, according to new data released today by the NGO Shipbreaking Platform.UAE owners were responsible for the highest absolute number of ships sold to South Asian shipbreaking yards in 2018: there were 61 ships in total.Greek owners, beached 57 vessels out of a total of 66 sold for demolition. American owners closely followed with 53 end-of-life vessels broken up on South Asian tidal mudflats.The ‘worst corporate dumper’ prize goes to the South Korean liner Sinokor Merchant Marine, said NGO Shipbreaking Platform.

NYSE-listed offshore support vessel owner Scorpio Group has taken control of Nordic American Offshore (NAO), via a private placement into company’s shares worth $5 million.The investment, which took place via a private placement with Scorpio Offshore Investments, a unit of the group, was announced by NAOScorpio Group leader Emanuele Lauro has been appointed chief executive and chairman of NAO.Nordic American Tankers presently owns about 16.1 percent in NAO and the Hansson family owns 13.5 percent, in total about 30 percent. Following the investment in NAO by Scorpio, the NAT related entities have about 24 percent.Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO of NAO, said in a statement, "Scorpio will step into NAO to significantly strengthen and grow NAO.

Bermuda-based tanker ship operator now finishes the year with another sale of ships netting USD 20 million. The company has been on a selling spree in this summar."We would like to inform you that we have sold our two 1999 built tankers, the Nordic Aurora and the Nordic Sprite. Both ships have their so called special surveys in January next year, normally costing $1 mill or more for each ship. The ships have been sold at a price of about $10 mill per unit net to us," the oil shipper said in a press release.The ships are scheduled to be delivered to the new owners in December 2018. The contracts contain provisions related to the Hong Kong Convention (2009) for ships.After having sold eight ships this summer, built in 1997/1998, the NAT fleet now consists of ships built in 2000 and onwards.

Ocean Yield has agreed to acquire two 2015 built 37,000 dwt IMO II chemical tankers with 12-year bareboat charters to companies owned and guaranteed by Ardmore Shipping Corporation. The aggregate purchase price is approximately USD 51 million net of pre-paid charter-hire.The ship owning company with investments in vessels on long -term charters also announced that it has today taken delivery of the newbuilding suezmax crude tanker Nordic Tellus from Samsung Heavy Industries' shipyard in South Korea.The vessels Ocean Yield acquired from Ardmore Shipping Corporation are both built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in South Korea and are expected to be delivered to the Company during Q4 2018.

The international tanker company Nordic American Tankers (NAT) said that the third 2018 suezmax newbuilding from Samsung Shipbuilding in South Korea was delivered yesterday ( October 25, 2018). According to a press release from the tanker firm, the first one was delivered to NAT July 10, 2018. The second ship was delivered August 31, 2018.This third vessel has the name of Nordic Tellus, which means the planet Earth in Latin. The sponsor of the vessel is Mrs. Hyun Hee Chung, the wife of Dr.Whan Chang, owner and Chairman of the the media group Maekyung, the largest publishing house in Korea.Over the years, NAT has received several newbuildings from Korea. A suezmax is able to load one million barrels of crude oil. At this time NAT has 25 suezmaxes.