Hamilton, Bermuda, November 1, 2018
Dear Shareholders,
Recently, the market rates for our suezmax tankers have turned up strongly.
This upswing is illustrated by the fact that the spot market for our ships has gone up four to five times recently.
As provided by Fearnleys indexes, here is a snapshot at months beginning, of average reported TCE earning for the first three quarters of 2018.
2nd January 2018 TCE rates ~$6000/day
1st February 2018 TCE rates ~$1200/day
1st March 2018 TCE rates ~$4100/day
4th April 2018 TCE rates ~$5600/day
1st May 2018 TCE rates ~$10500/day
1st June 2018 TCE rates ~$11900/day
2nd July 2018 TCE rates ~$7400/day
1st August 2018 TCE rates ~$9900/day
3rd September 2018 TCE rates ~$8700/day
1st October 2018 TCE rates ~$14500/day
Yesterday 31th October TCE ~$28700/day
The higher the tanker rates going forward, the better the ability for us to pay dividend – a key policy element of NAT. Spot market earnings are volatile. Volatility is often a sign of an improved underlying market balance. The stronger market took place one quarter later than we anticipated.
NAT has declared a dividend of one cent per share for the third quarter of 2018, which was a weak quarter. This is the 85th consecutive quarterly dividend payment. Going forward, a stronger tanker market is forming the basis for higher dividend. The record date is November 21, and the payment date is about December 7, 2018. The 3Q2018 report is out before NYSE opening November 12, 2018.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.
The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,” “will,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as a result of changes in OPEC’s petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the prospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and our reports on Form 6-K.
Contacts:
Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP
New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Bjørn Giæver, CFO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 91 35 00 91
Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or +47 90 14 62 91
Web-site: www.nat.bm