Nordic American Tankers Expands Fleet to 33 Vessels
Armed with $120m from the placement, Nordic American Tankers (NAT) has contracted to increase its fleet from 30 to 33 vessels, enhancing its potential for both higher earnings and dividends.
The Company will have a fleet of 30 trading vessels in early 2017. By way of comparison, in the autumn of 2004, the Company had three vessels.
NAT is focused on maintaining top technical quality of the fleet. Our operational performance remains at the forefront of the industry. 3Q2016 inspections had an average of 2.4 observations which we consider an excellent result. NAT’s performance can be considered industry best practice.
The capital raise strengthened our company significantly by allowing NAT to enter into agreements with Samsung Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., for the construction of three Suezmax tankers of about 157,000 deadweight tons to be delivered during the second half of 2018.
Growth of a uniform Suezmax fleet has been one key success factor for NAT, generating an annual average dividend yield of 12% since start of operations in 1997. Going forward, the company believe that the build-up of our fleet to 33 vessels will substantially increase our dividend capacity and Total Return.
NAT has reported a third-quarter loss of $7.6 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier. The tanker company posted revenue of $45.9 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts.
