Herbjorn Hansson-led Nordic American Tankers Ltd moves towards an expansion of its fleet portfolio with a couple of ships. The company in its latest report says that the direction of NAT is “upwards and there is room for profitable growth”.
“We plan to increase our fleet with a couple of ships, which should positively impact dividend payments,” its third quarter report said.
New York-listed NAT concluded in the quarter time-charter contracts with international and national oil companies with an aggregate net revenue of about $125m. The suezmax specialist is looking now to add more ships to its fleet portfolio.
Currently, the company’s fleet consists of 20 suezmax tankers with a cargo lifting capacity of 1 million barrels of oil each. It has fifteen of its twenty vessels in the spot market.
Meanwhile, for the ninety-two-day period ending September 30, NAT produced a net profit of $8.7m. This compares with a net profit of $7.5m for the same quarter last year.
“NAT in particular stands to benefit from the fact that the supply of Suezmax tankers will remain muted for at least the next two or three years. Environmental regulations, increased production costs, and higher interest rates make investing in new ships quite challenging,” the company said.
The world’s suezmax fleet (excl. shuttle, product & Jones Act tankers) counted 581 vessels as of September 30, flat from the previous two quarters.
The third quarter 2024 saw a marginal increase in the orderbook for suezmax tankers that now count 100 vessels to be delivered over the next 4 years.
By the end of this year, 102 suezmax tankers will be above 20 years of age, matching the current orderbook for new ships.
Only four new vessels remain to enter the world suezmax fleet in 2024, 26 in 2025, 34 in 2026, 32 in 2027 and so far, 4 newbuild orders are booked for 2028.
“All of the above are good news for the short and long-term outlook for our tankers,” NAT said.
