Oslo: Executive chairman and president of NYSE-listed Nordic American Offshore (NAO) Herbjorn Hansson has put his money where his mouth is by buying a significant amount of shares in the company, he told shareholders in a letter Tuesday.
Hansson and his son Alexander bought 50,000 shares in the Bermuda-incorporated firm, which owns and operates platform supply vessels (PSVs).
Hansson acknowledged the turbulence of the market for PSVs with the downward turn in oil prices but he justified his bullish investment by noting that the company had recently contracted two of its vessels to Norwegian multinational oil and gas company Statoil to assist on the Polarled project.
“Five vessels in our eight-vessel fleet are currently employed on contracts, up from three last quarter,” Hansson wrote in the letter. “Three of our vessels are operating in the spot market. At the time of this letter to you, we enter a period of greater visibility on earnings and security in the current challenging environment. We have achieved in excess of 80% utilisation which is a sound performance in the current market conditions.”
He also noted how a decision to pay in Norwegian kroner two newbuilds from Ulstein earlier this year had led to a realised currency gain of about $8 million per vessel.
