Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) – Dividend is a priority for NAT. The strong tanker market is continuing.

  

Hamilton, Bermuda, April 14, 2020

Dear Shareholders,

We regularly comment on geopolitical events with relevance to the tanker market and for our 23 suezmaxes that can load one million barrels each. In particular, we commented upon the Covid-19 pandemic in press releases of January 31 and March 2, 2020.

At a time when companies are cutting back their dividend distribution, it is important for us to emphasize that dividend is a priority for NAT. We declared a dividend for 1Q 2020 of 14 cents per share payable in June this year. This is a doubling from 7 cents per share in 4Q 2019 and almost five times as high as the dividend in the first quarter of 2019 when it was 3 cents.

The tanker market is continuing from strength to strength. This bodes well for our dividends going forward. Historically, tanker rates above USD 30,000 per day are good for NAT.

OPEC and other oil exporting countries yesterday agreed cuts in oil production in the magnitude of about 10m barrels per day or about 10% of world production. We do not expect this to impact negatively the situation for NAT.

Going forward, we foresee low oil prices. This is good for our business. China, Korea and other Asian economies are recovering from the virus. Combined with stimulus packages and a low oil price, we expect that the world economy will recover. In the meantime, we are enjoying the strong position of NAT, which we expect to continue.  

Please feel free to contact us on any matter about our business.

 

Best regards,

Herbjørn Hansson

Chairman & CEO

Nordic American Tankers Ltd.                                                            

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. 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. 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. 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 worldwide 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:         

Gary J. Wolfe

Seward & Kissel LLP

New York, USA

Tel:

Bjørn Giæver, CFO

Nordic American Tankers Limited

Tel: +1 888 755 8391 or +47 91 35 00 91       

Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO

Nordic American Tankers Limited

Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or