The overall net gain was also lower at $13 mill, compared with $29.3 mill and $30.9 mill for 1Q16 and 2Q15, respectively. The six monthly overall net gain was $42.3 mill for 1H16, compared with $58.6 mill for 1H15.
NAT reported a total of 65 days offhire during the quarter, of which 59 days were planned. This included 19 days of positioning time to and from shipyards. For the remainder of 2016, six vessels are expected to undergo drydocking. One or two could be moved to 2017.
The company’s Suezmax fleet on spot and under contract averaged around $28,500 per day during the quarter. The company claimed a cash break-even rate of below $11,000 per day per ship, including financial charges and G&A costs. The opex per ship is also claimed to be low low at about $8,400 per vessel per day. The drydocking costs for those of the vessels, which are over 15 years of age are on average less than $2 mill per unit - the same level as the rest of the fleet.
NAT claimed that it continued to maintain a strong balance sheet with low net debt and is focusing on keeping low financial risk. At the end of 2Q16, the company had net debt of about $303 mill or about $11 mill per vessel
By early next year, the Company will have a fleet of 30 trading Suezmaxes, compared with three in the Autumn of 2004. The recent deliveries of four Japanese-built secondhand ships for $106 mill and the purchase of two new vessels from South Korea in the next six months, for a total of $64 mill in cash, are being financed without raising new equity.
The arbitration case against Gulf Navigation Holding (GNH) regarding the Suezmax vessel ‘Gulf Scandic’ (since named ‘Nordic Harrier’) remains unresolved.
Meanwhile, Carl Fredrik Grosland (36) has agreed to join NAT as vice president, working on analyses, projects and business development. Reporting to CEO Herbjorn Hansson in a staff position, he will also work closely with others both in NAT and Nordic American Offshore (NAO).
Grosland has 12 years of international banking experience as an analyst and broker, focusing mainly on the energy/offshore and the shipping sector. For several years, he was a partner and board member of the investment banking firm of Pareto Securities based in New York.
Going forward, he will focus on the US, the Far East and Europe based in NAT’s Oslo office. Working out of Oslo, he was recently vice president at Clarksons Platou Securites.