Nordic American Tankers has cut a deal to lease out one of its ships to Equinor at a time the tanker market is expected to take a turn for the better.
The Herbjorn Hansson-led suezmax tanker owner has fixed the 158,597-dwt Nordic Zenith (built 2011) to the Norwegian oil company for the next 12 to 15 months.
Financial details of the charter were not disclosed.
According to Clarksons, the ship was last chartered for a voyage from Libya to China to Sinopec subsidiary Unipec for $2.7m.
"Going forward, we sense a strong upward trend for the tanker industry," the comany said.
"NAT is in a positive phase of development."
In the first quarter, Nordic American Tankers posted its best result since 2016, a $5.6m profit and expects further profits thanks to the incoming IMO 2020 emissions regulations.
"The world economy is enjoying its strongest upswing since 2010," the company said after releasing the results.
"What is good for the world economy and world trade is by nature positive for the crude oil tanker business."
The deal comes at a time of increased period tanker charter business amid the pending arrival of IMO 2020 rules.
