Bermuda-based shipping company Nordic American Tankers (NAT) has secured a 3-year time charter (TC) plus options for one of its Suezmax newbuildings.

The time charter contract, expected to commence in the autumn of 2018, was agreed with Norway's company Equinor (formerly Statoil).

The contract has a base rate of USD 21,000 per day, “producing positive cashflow and earnings,” NAT said. The deal includes two optional periods that could extend the TC contract into 2023.

Scheduled for delivery in August 2018, the unit is one of the three vessels under construction at South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries.

“Going forward, we sense an upward trend for the tanker industry as there is a clear expectation for improvement,” the company added.

Over the last two weeks, the company disposed of five Suezmax tankers of 20 years or more. These transactions generate a total cashflow of about USD 50 million.