Herbjørn Hansson-led Nordic American Tankers Ltd (NAT) has confirmed a recent purchase move as part of the company’s plan to renew and grow its fleet.
The company has agreed to buy one 2016-built suezmax tanker from a “first class owner” with delivery to NAT scheduled during the second quarter of this year.
“The price is in the mid/high 60’s,” NAT said in its fourth-quarter earnings statement released on Friday.
The company believes that the new unit “will provide additional earnings and dividend capacity to NAT.”
NAT expects the vessel to be financed with cash and lease financing.
Meanwhile, the company sold the 2003-built Nordic Apollo and the vessel was delivered to its new owners on February 26. “The proceeds from this sale will also add to our financial flexibility,” the shipowner said.
Furthermore, the owner declared purchase options for two of its 2018-built suezmax tankers currently financed with Ocean Yield.
“These two transactions will be concluded in the third quarter of 2025, by us paying down the outstanding debt on the vessels. We plan to fund this with a combination of cash and new financing.”
NAT fleet -as of December 31- consisted of 20 suezmax tankers with a cargo lifting capacity of 1 million barrels of oil each.
The company has only suezmaxes in its fleet and the vast majority of the ships are built in South Korea.
