History
- Knightsbridge Tankers Limited was incorporated in Bermuda on September 18, 1996. References herein to the Company include the Company and all of its subsidiaries, unless otherwise indicated. The Company was incorporated for the purpose of the acquisition, disposition, ownership, leasing and chartering of, through wholly-owned subsidiaries (the "Original Subsidiaries"), five very large crude oil carriers ("VLCCs") (the "Vessels"). The Company used the net proceeds of its initial public offering and bank debt to fund the purchase by the Original Subsidiaries of the Vessels. Upon their purchase from their previous owners on February 27, 1997 until March 2004, the Company chartered its Vessels to Shell International on long-term "hell and high water" bareboat charters (the "Charters"). The term of each of these Charters was a minimum of seven years, with an option for Shell International to extend the period for each Vessel's Charter for an additional seven year term, to a maximum of approximately 14 years per Charter. Shell International did not extend the bareboat charters for any of the Vessels for a second seven year period. Consequently, the Charters expired for all five Vessels, in accordance with their terms, during March 2004 and the Vessels were redelivered to the Company. Following the redelivery, the Company has entered into a five year time charter for one of its vessels while two of the Company's vessels have each been time chartered for a period of three years. The Company's remaining two vessels are trading on the spot market.
- The business of the Company is limited by its Bye-Laws to the transactions described above and related activities including the ownership of subsidiaries engaged in the acquisition, disposition, ownership, leasing and chartering of the Vessels following the termination of the Charters in 2004, and engaging in activities necessary, suitable or convenient to accomplish, or in connection with or incidental to, the foregoing, including refinancing its original debt obligation related to its initial public offering (the "Credit Facility"). The Company expects that its only source of operating revenue, from which the Company may pay distributions to shareholders of its common shares, par value $0.01 per share, will be cash payments from subsidiaries to the Company.
