Nordic American Tankers Still in the Red

Nordic American Tankers (NAT) reported a net loss for 4Q2018, came in at -$10.5 million. This was a substantial improvement from the previous quarter (3Q2018) which saw a net loss of -$37.9 million.  

"It is important to note that we have concluded a refinancing of the company with CSG CSG Investments, Inc, funded by Beal bank Texas, USA.  This refinancing strengthens the position of nat going forward. The new capital structure allows for greater flexibility as regards dividend payments," the Bermuda-based company said.

NAT is well positioned in the tanker market, it added. The historic average market rate for the last 25 years was about $30,000 per day per Suezmax vessel. Such earnings would give a solid excess cashflow from operations.

"Our fleet consists of 23 well maintained Suezmax tankers (all our ships above 15 years of age has a CAP 1 class notation, which above all is related to steel quality) with an aggregate cargo capacity of 23 million barrels of crude oil, illustrating the size of NAT," it said.

"NAT has one of the largest fleet of Suezmax tankers in the world. In a capital intensive industry like ours, timing and financing are the key issues to achieve a sound cost structure," it added.