For shareholders of Nordic American Tankers Limited. Below is for your information a letter to shareholders of Nordic American Offshore Ltd. of December 14, 2015.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, Dec. 14, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Dear shareholder,
It is good news for our platform supply vessels (PSV) in Nordic American Offshore that the short term spot market has improved in the last few weeks. All our ships operate in the spot market, where rates have hovered around $5,000 per day. As an example, this week we negotiated a rate for one of our PSVs about four times that level for a short voyage. There are fewer PSVs available right now because many of them have been laid-up given the market. Our modern and efficient ships have been operating all the time in this market.
We are always looking for bright spots on the horizon and this example of a strong improvement in rates is such a bright spot. It would be too optimistic to expect rates to continue to be this strong, but we welcome every contract we sign at these levels.
During the last few days I have personally bought about $500,000 worth of stock in NAO, which reflects my attitude about the company's prospects. Nordic American Tankers (NAT), where I am the Chairman and one of the largest shareholders, now owns about 26% of the shares in NAO, after NAT increased its holding from about 19% November 12, 2015.
Along with focus on dividend, it is a priority to ensure that NAO is in a solid financial position with low net debt.
I wish you all the best for Christmas and for the New Year! Herbjorn Hansson Executive Chairman
Nordic American Offshore 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," "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 PSV market, as a result of changes in the general market conditions of the oil and natural gas industry which influence charter hire rates and vessel values, demand in platform supply vessels, our operating expenses, including bunker prices, dry docking and insurance costs, governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities as well as potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, the availability of financing and refinancing, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hire and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contacts:
Tor-Øyvind Bjørkli, Chief Executive Officer
Nordic American Offshore Ltd.
Tel: +47 90 62 70 14 or +47 21 99 24 81
Herbjørn Hansson, Executive Chairman
Nordic American Offshore Ltd.
Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 90 14 62 91
Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Web-site: www.nao.bm
