DHT Holdings recently issued a statement in reference to the announcement on October 10, 2025 by the Ministry of Transport in China relating the collection of special port fees from US-linked vessels.
DHT clarifies that each vessel in the company’s fleet is directly owned by a non-US entity, was built in a non-US jurisdiction, does not fly the US 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, US nationals only represent 20 per cent of the composition of the board of directors of the company (one out of five directors).
"As is typical for publicly traded companies, the company’s shareholder base is broad," said DHT. "The company generally learns the identity of its beneficial owners through public beneficial ownership reports, which are required for any persons with more than five per cent 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'."
DHT also said that 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-US 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 US shareholders or reporting groups that have disclosed ownership in, or control over, directly or indirectly, 25 per cent or more of DHT’s issued and outstanding shares or voting rights in the aggregate."
DHT said the latest beneficial ownership reports indicate that there are two US entities that hold more than five per cent of its issued and outstanding shares or voting rights. However, the ownership of these two entities, when aggregated, still falls below 25 per cent 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 US persons," DHT concluded.
