Shrinking of Ship Supply in Tanker Market Heralded

The tanker market is entering a period which will see a shrinkage in the supply of ships, therefore an improved balance between supply and demand may be established, Herbjørn Hansson, Executive Chairman at Nordic American Tankers Limited (NAT) said.

 
” It is many years ago since we had such a position. The recent volatility in the spot market is also indicating a tighter balance between supply and demand,” he continued.

As explained by Hansson, the first quarter of 2014 produced very strong results for the company’s suezmax tankers compared with the last quarter of 2013.
“During the fourth quarter of 2013 the operating cash flow was $1.9 million. The comparable figure for the first quarter of 2014 was about $27 million, about 14 times up,” he said.

“We know that the tanker market is volatile, the first quarter of 2014 is an indication how it can evolve. 2Q2014 will not produce results at the level with 1Q2014 as the market has fallen back. At the time of this message there is an undercurrent in the market which may lead to increased rates again. Time will tell,” he added.

According to him, NAT is in excellent position to reap immediate financial benefits when the market turns around, especially having in mind that NAT’s suezmax fleet wil be exfrom 20 to 22 vessels. We shall take delivery of the two new vessels in July and August 2014, respectively.

In April 2014, NAT closed a following offering that brought in approximately $113 million. The proceeds are planned to be used to finance the current acquisitions, bringing the fleet to 22 vessels, and for further fleet expansion.

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World Maritime News Staff, July 8th, 2014