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March 25, 2021
Dear Shareholders and Investors,
NAT is a Suezmax specialist - each vessel of 150,000 / 160,000 tons can carry one million barrels of oil. Our fleet consists of 25 Suezmax tankers (including 2 newbuildings).
A Suezmax tanker is the largest tanker that can transit the Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal is now blocked by a large vessel. We cannot predict how long the current situation in the Suez Canal will last.
A closure of the Suez Canal, over a prolonged period of time, would require vessels to divert around Africa going from West to East and vice versa. This is a materially longer distance.
A longer voyage will lock up more shipping capacity, reducing the effective number of voyages the world fleet can perform over a period.
This means reduced availability of shipping capacity, which in turn would imply higher freight rates.
Sincerely,
Herbjorn Hansson
Founder, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Ltd.
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd., press release
