SEC Form 6-K filed by Nordic American Tankers Limited

Nordic American Tankers Limited

September 23, 2024

TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF NORDIC AMERICAN TANKERS LIMITED

Enclosed is a Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Nordic American Tankers Limited (the “Company”) and related materials. The Annual General Meeting will be held at Le Castellar, 9, avenue J.F Kennedy, 98000 Monaco on November 21, 2024, at 3:00 pm Monaco time / 10:00 a.m. Bermuda time (the “Meeting”).

At the Meeting, the shareholders of the Company will consider and vote upon agenda item 1 and 2 below:

Approval of Proposals One and Two requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the Meeting, either in person or by proxy. We urge you to vote in favor of all of the Proposals.

You are cordially invited to attend the Meeting in person. If you attend the Meeting, you may revoke your proxy and vote your shares in person.

WHETHER OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING IN PERSON, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR SHARES BE REPRESENTED AND VOTED AT THE MEETING. ACCORDINGLY, IF YOU HAVE ELECTED TO RECEIVE YOUR PROXY MATERIALS BY MAIL, PLEASE DATE, SIGN AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD. IF YOU RECEIVED YOUR PROXY MATERIALS OVER THE INTERNET, PLEASE VOTE BY INTERNET OR BY TELEPHONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN THE NOTICE OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE IN THE MAIL. IF YOU DECIDE TO ATTEND THE MEETING IN PERSON, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REVOKE YOUR PROXY AND VOTE IN PERSON.

ANY SIGNED PROXY RETURNED AND NOT COMPLETED WILL BE VOTED BY MANAGEMENT IN FAVOR OF ALL PROPOSALS PRESENTED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT.

NORDIC AMERICAN TANKERS LIMITED

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 21, 2024

NOTICE IS HEREBY given that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (the “Meeting”) of Nordic American Tankers Limited (the “Company”) will be held on November 21, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Bermuda time at Le Castellara, 9, avenue J.F Kennedy, 98000 Monaco for the following purposes, of which items 1, 2, and 3 are more completely set forth in the accompanying Proxy Statement:

The Company’s board of directors has fixed the close of business on September 16, 2024 as the record date for the determination of the shareholders entitled to receive notice and to vote at the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.

All shareholders must present a form of personal photo identification in order to be admitted to the Meeting. In addition, if your shares are held in the name of your broker, bank, or other nominee and you wish to attend the Meeting, you must bring an account statement or letter from the broker, bank, or other nominee indicating that you were the owner of the shares on September 16, 2024, the record date of the Meeting.

WHETHER OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING IN PERSON, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOUR SHARES BE REPRESENTED AND VOTED AT THE MEETING. ACCORDINGLY, IF YOU HAVE ELECTED TO RECEIVE YOUR PROXY MATERIALS BY MAIL, PLEASE DATE, SIGN AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD. IF YOU RECEIVED YOUR PROXY MATERIALS OVER THE INTERNET, PLEASE VOTE BY INTERNET OR BY TELEPHONE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDED IN THE NOTICE OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS THAT YOU WILL RECEIVE IN THE MAIL. IF YOU DECIDE TO ATTEND THE MEETING IN PERSON, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO REVOKE YOUR PROXY AND VOTE IN PERSON.

ANY SIGNED PROXY RETURNED AND NOT COMPLETED WILL BE VOTED BY MANAGEMENT IN FAVOR OF ALL PROPOSALS PRESENTED IN THE PROXY STATEMENT.

NORDIC AMERICAN TANKERS LIMITED

____________________________

PROXY STATEMENT
FOR
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS
TO BE HELD ON NOVEMBER 21, 2024

____________________________

INFORMATION CONCERNING SOLICITATION AND VOTING

The enclosed proxy is solicited on behalf of the board of directors (the “Board” or the “Directors”) of Nordic American Tankers Limited, a Bermuda company (the “Company”), for use at the Company’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held at Le Castellara, 9, avenue J.F Kennedy, 98000 Monaco on November 21, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. Bermuda time, or at any adjournment or postponement thereof (the “Meeting”), for the purposes set forth herein and in the accompanying Notice of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.

On September 16, 2024 (the “Record Date”), the Company had issued and outstanding 208,796,444 common shares, par value $0.01 per share (the “Common Shares”). Each shareholder of record at the close of business on the Record Date is entitled to one vote for each Common Share then held. One or more shareholders representing at least one-third of the total voting rights of the Company present in person or by proxy at the Meeting shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of the Meeting. The Common Shares represented by any proxy in the enclosed form will be voted in accordance with the instructions given on the proxy if the proxy is properly executed and is received by the Company prior to the close of voting at the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof. Any proxies returned without instructions will be voted FOR the proposals set forth on the Notice of Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.

The Common Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “NAT.”

A shareholder giving a proxy may revoke it at any time before it is exercised. A proxy may be revoked by filing with the Secretary of the Company at the Company's registered office, Swan Building, 26 Victoria Street, Hamilton, Bermuda, a written notice of revocation by a duly executed proxy bearing a later date, or by attending the Meeting and voting in person.

PROPOSAL ONE

ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

As provided in the Company's Bye-laws, each Director serves until the next annual general meeting, and shall hold office until his successor is elected or appointed or until his earlier resignation or removal. The terms of the Directors expire at the Meeting. The Board has nominated the (4) four persons listed below for election as Directors at the Meeting.

Set forth below is information concerning each nominee for Director.

Unless the proxy is marked to indicate that such authorization is expressly withheld, the persons named in the enclosed proxy intend to vote the shares authorized thereby FOR the four nominees. It is expected that each of these nominees listed below will be able to serve, but if before the election it develops that any of the nominees are unavailable, the persons named in the accompanying proxy will vote for the election of such substitute nominee or nominees as the current Board may recommend.

Nominees for Election to The Company's Board of Directors

Information concerning the nominees for Director is set forth below:

The biographies of the Company’s nominee Directors and Officers are as follows:

Herbjørn Hansson earned his M.B.A. at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and attended Harvard Business School. In 1974 he was employed by the Norwegian Shipowners' Association. In the period from 1975 to 1980, he was Chief Economist and Research Manager of INTERTANKO, an industry association whose members control about 70% of the world's independently owned tanker fleet, excluding state owned and oil company fleets. During the 1980s, he was Chief Financial Officer of Kosmos/Anders Jahre, at the time one of the largest Norwegian based shipping and industry groups. In 1989, Mr. Hansson founded Ugland Nordic Shipping AS, or UNS, which became one of the world's largest owners of specialized shuttle tankers. He served as Chairman in the first phase and as Chief Executive Officer as from 1993 to 2001 when UNS, under his management, was sold to Teekay Shipping Corporation, or Teekay, for an enterprise value of $780.0 million. He continued to work with Teekay, recently as Vice Chairman of Teekay Norway AS, until he started working full-time for the Company on September 1, 2004. Mr. Hansson is the founder and has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since its establishment in 1995. He also has been a member of various governing bodies of companies within shipping, insurance, banking, manufacturing, national/international shipping agencies including classification societies and protection and indemnity associations. Mr. Hansson is fluent in Norwegian and English, and has a command of German and French for conversational purposes.

Jim Kelly has been a director of the Company since June 2010. He has been a member of the NAT Audit Committee from February 2012 till May 2022. The last 2 years of his tenure in the Audit Committee he served as the Chair of the Committee. Mr. Kelly has worked for Time Inc., the world's largest magazine publisher, since 1978. He served as Foreign Editor during the fall of the Soviet Union and the first Gulf War, and was named Deputy Managing Editor in 1996. In 2001, Mr. Kelly became the magazine's managing editor, and during his tenure the magazine won a record four National Magazine awards. In 2004, Time Magazine received its first EMMA for its contribution to the ABC News Series "Iraq: Where Things Stand." In late 2006, Mr. Kelly became the managing editor of all of Time Inc., helping supervise the work of more than 2,000 journalists working at 125 titles, including Fortune, Money, Sports Illustrated and People. Since 2009, Mr. Kelly has worked as a consultant at Bloomberg LP and taught at Princeton and Columbia Universities.

Alexander Hansson has been a Director of the Company since November 2019. He is an investor in various markets globally and has made several successful investments in both listed and privately held companies. Mr. Hansson is the son of the Company’s Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President and he has built a network over the last 20 years in the shipping and finance sector. He has operated shipping and trading offices in London and Monaco. He studied at EBS Regents College in London, United Kingdom.

Jenny Chu has been a Director of Nordic American Tankers Ltd since April 2022 and has served as a member and chair of our Audit Committee since May 2022. Ms. Chu is a US citizen, born in South-Korea, with more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry working with wealth planning for ultra-high net worth individuals in Morgan Stanley, UBS, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. She was Managing Director at JP Morgan Securities and Senior Vice President for Merrill Lynch both in Century City. She was also Head of Global Business Development in The Boars’ Club, a by-invitation private international investment club for principals of single-family offices. She has been a director at the Korean American Chamber of Commerce and has had several other director- and memberships. She is currently a Private Financial Advisor. Ms. Chu knows and has been a close contact for NAT for many years and she brings valuable knowledge, experience and network to NAT, both in the US and in Asia.

Audit Committee. In accordance with the rules of the NYSE, the Board has established an Audit Committee consisting of a single independent Director, Jenny Chu. Ms. Chu serves as the audit committee financial expert.

Executive Officers. Mr. Hansson serves as the Company’s Founder, President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer. Bjorn Giaever is the Company’s Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary.

Required Vote. Approval of Proposal One requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the Meeting.

Effect of abstentions. Abstentions will not affect the vote on Proposal One.

THE BOARD UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTORS. UNLESS REVOKED AS PROVIDED ABOVE, PROXIES RECEIVED BY MANAGEMENT WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF ALL SUCH PROPOSED DIRECTORS UNLESS A CONTRARY VOTE IS SPECIFIED.

PROPOSAL TWO

APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENT OF
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS

KPMG AS has advised the Company that the firm does not have any direct or indirect financial interest in the Company, nor has such firm had any such interest in connection with the Company during the past three fiscal years.

All services rendered by the independent auditors are subject to review by the Audit Committee.

Required Vote. Approval of Proposal Two will require the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at the Meeting, either in person or by proxy.

Effect of abstentions. Abstentions will not affect the vote on Proposal Two.

THE BOARD UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF THE APPOINTMENT OF KPMG AS AS INDEPENDENT AUDITORS OF THE COMPANY FOR THE ENSUING YEAR UNTIL THE CLOSE OF THE NEXT ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. UNLESS REVOKED AS PROVIDED ABOVE, PROXIES RECEIVED BY MANAGEMENT WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF SUCH APPROVAL UNLESS A CONTRARY VOTE IS SPECIFIED.

SOLICITATION

The cost of preparing and soliciting proxies will be borne by the Company. Solicitation will be made primarily by mail, but shareholders may be solicited by telephone, e-mail, or personal contact. The Board has retained Okapi Partners LLC as proxy solicitor in connection with the Meeting. If you have any questions or need assistance in voting your proxy, please contact Okapi Partners at the toll-free number or email address listed below.

Okapi Partners LLC
1212 Avenue of the Americas – 17th Floor
New York, NY 10036
(212) 297-0720
Toll Free: (877) 259-6290
[email protected]

OTHER MATTERS

No other matters are expected to be presented for action at the Meeting.