DHT issues statement in reference to special port fees from US-linked vessels

DHT Holdings (DHT) made the following statement in reference to the announcement on October 10 by the Ministry of Transport in China relating the collection of special port fees from US-linked vessels. “Each vessel in the Company’s fleet is directly owned by a non-U.S. entity, was built in a non-U.S. jurisdiction, does not fly the U.S. flag and is operated from management companies in Monaco, Norway, Singapore and India. DHT, the ultimate parent company of all vessels belonging to the fleet, is a publicly traded company incorporated under the laws of the Marshall Islands and headquartered in Bermuda, with management functions split between Monaco, Norway and Singapore. Additionally, U.S. nationals only represent 20% of the composition of the Board of Directors of the Company. As is typical for publicly traded companies, the Company’s shareholder base is broad. The Company generally learns the identity of its beneficial owners through public beneficial ownership reports, which are required for any persons with more than 5% ownership of the Company’s common shares, or voluntary disclosures by holders. Beyond these sources, DHT cannot accurately verify the ownership of individual shareholders as the vast majority of shareholders are represented by custodians, brokers and hold their shares through broker “street names”. Furthermore, a large financial services firm that acts as an investment manager and intermediary via its mutual funds and ETF products, can manage funds from a broad base of investors, including non-U.S. investors or fund of funds. As such, DHT does not have the ability to verify the nationality of the ultimate beneficial owners of shares held. Based on the information publicly available to the Company, including beneficial ownership reports filed as of today, the Company is not aware of U.S. shareholders or reporting groups that have disclosed ownership in, or control over, directly or indirectly, 25% or more of DHT’s issued and outstanding shares or voting rights in the aggregate. The latest beneficial ownership reports indicate that there are two U.S. entities that hold more than 5% of DHT’s issued and outstanding shares or voting rights; however, the ownership of these two entities, when aggregated, still falls below 25% of DHT’s issued and outstanding shares or voting rights. In addition, there can be no assurances that the ultimate beneficial owners of the shares held by these two holders are U.S. persons.”