NAT Sends Suezmax on 30 Month Charter

Bermuda-based tanker owner Nordic American Tankers (NAT) has entered into a 30-month charter contract with a subsidiary of the US oil and gas firm ExxonMobil for one of the NAT Suezmaxes.

The company said that the firm period of the charter is 18 months with an option of further 12 months.

The gross revenue from the contract of 30 months is estimated to be around USD 25 million, reflecting a time charter rate between USD 25,000 and USD 30,000 per day.

The Suezmax charter deal is scheduled to commence in a few days.

“The cash breakeven level of NAT, including all G&A costs and financial items, is now about USD 11,000 per day per vessel, spread across 30 units,” the company said.

Furthermore, NAT’s Chairman & CEO, Herbjørn Hansson, said that the company’s has changed “the name of our chartering department from Orion Tankers (which was initially established as a chartering pool with external participants) to NAT Chartering. All the suezmax tankers under our umbrella are now owned by NAT.”

He added that the company does not plan to invite other firms into the chartering arrangements.

At the beginning of May, Nordic American Tankers signed a contract with an undisclosed party to acquire four 150,000 dwt Suezmax vessels for a price of USD 106 million.

Under the agreement, the crude oil tankers, which were built at a Japanese shipyard, will be delivered to the company’s fleet by the end of July 2016.

NAT’s fleet currently stands at 30 vessels, including the two newbuildings due for delivery in August 2016 and in January 2017.