Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) - Letter to Shareholders from the Chairman & CEO. Improved Market Conditions for our Suezmax tankers.
Hamilton, Bermuda, January 10, 2014
All the best for the new year which has started out very well for NAT. In my
letter to you one month ago, December 10 2013, I pointed at the improved
conditions in the Suezmax spot tanker market. The strong development has
continued into 2014. We do not predict spot tanker rates. I would note, though,
that we are very pleased to see this strongly improved rate picture for Suezmax
spot tankers.
We often have requests for information about spot Suezmax rates. Below are the
rates as quoted by Fearnleys Shipbrokers January 9 - yesterday. Rates achieved
by NAT per day may differ from the quotes of shipbrokers. Rates are volatile,
and may move both up or down from the levels listed below. Rates are given in
dollars per day for vessels in the spot market. All the NAT vessels (20
Suezmaxes) are in top technical condition, trading in the spot voyage market.
 NAT is a supplier of ships above all to the large international oil companies.
Market rate estimates are often in an "ideal" world, with minimum waiting time.
The rates do not with any precision indicate the rates achieved in the market by
a shipping company.
Market estimates for five different routes January 9, 2014:
130 KT - WAFR/USG $57,500 West Africa / US Gulf
130 KT - WAFR/USAC $59,500 West Africa /US Atlantic Coast
135 KT - BSEA/UKCM $76,500 Black Sea / UK/Continent
130 KT - CROSS MED $76,500 Cross Mediterranean
130 KT - MED/USG $55,500 Mediterranean/US Gulf
The cash break-even rate for the NAT vessels, including administrative and
financing items is about $12,000 per day per ship. A strong tanker market does
impact the dividend payments to shareholders in a positive way.
I wish to be cautious and conservative. We do see, however, recent developments
as positive signs, indicating that we are coming closer to a recovery.
All the best!
Herbjorn Hansson
Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking
statements. Â 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. Â 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. Â 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 world
wide 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:
Scandic American Shipping Ltd
Manager for:
Nordic American Tankers Limited
P.O Box 56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway
Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail: Â nat@scandicamerican.com
Jacob Ellefsen,
Manager, Investor Relations and Research, Monaco
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: + 377 93 25 89 07 or + 33Â 678 631Â 959
Rolf Amundsen, Advisor, Norway
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26Â 906
Turid M. Sørensen, EVP & CFO, Norway
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: +47 33 42 73 00 or +47 90 57 29 27
Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Press Release (PDF):
http://hugin.info/201/R/1753953/591727.pdf
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Source: Nordic American Tankers Limited via GlobeNewswire
[HUG#1753953]