Company: ASC
Filing Date: 2025-03-07
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001558370-25-002500
Chunk: 11

Company: Ardmore Shipping Corp
Filing Date: 2025-03-07
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 3
Chunk 11
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 us to obtain due to increased premiums or reduced or restricted coverage for losses caused by terrorist acts generally.

Any decrease in spot charter rates in the future or a return of weak spot charter markets may adversely affect our results of operations.

As of March 7, 2025, 25 of our vessels, including three chartered-in vessels, were operating directly in the spot market. The earnings of these vessels are based on the spot market charter rates of the particular voyage charters. We may employ in the spot charter market additional vessels that we may acquire or charter-in in the future. When we employ a vessel in the spot charter market, we generally intend to employ the vessel in the spot market directly. Although spot chartering is common in the tanker industry, the spot charter market may fluctuate significantly based upon tanker and oil product/chemical supply and demand, and there have been periods when spot rates have declined below the operating cost of vessels. The successful operation of our vessels in the competitive spot charter market, including within commercial pools, depends upon, among other things, spot-charter rates and minimizing, to the extent possible, time spent waiting for charters and time spent traveling unladen to pick up cargo. If spot charter rates decline, we may be unable to operate our vessels trading in the spot market profitably or meet our obligations, including payments on indebtedness or any finance lease obligations. In addition, as charter rates for spot charters are fixed for a single voyage that may last up to several weeks, during periods in which spot charter rates are rising, we will generally experience delays in realizing the benefits from such increases.

Our ability to enter into any charters in the future on existing vessels or vessels we may acquire, the charter rates payable under any such charters and for employment of our vessels in the spot market and vessel values will depend upon, among other things, economic conditions in the sectors in which our vessels operate at that time, changes in the supply and demand for vessel capacity and changes in the supply and demand for the seaborne transportation of oil and chemical products.

Declines in oil prices may adversely affect our growth prospects and results of operations.

Global crude oil prices fluctuate significantly over time and in response to various events. Any meaningful decrease in oil prices may adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition and our ability to service our indebtedness and other financial obligations and to pay dividends, as a result of, among other things:

  a possible reduction in exploration for or development of new oil fields or energy projects,