Except for the two Suezmax’s that will be delivered after 2 years and the two MR tankers, the rest of the company’s new buildings have been fixed forward against medium- to long-term time charters. In addition to the firm orders, the company has options for three vessels, a second shuttle tanker for delivery during the first half — the second half of ’26 and options for 2 LR tankers for delivery also during the second half of ’26. As you see, the vessels that we have acquired have an average age of 1.2 years and in deadweight capacity are 4x the vessels that we sold, plus you have to consider the quality characteristics, the eco-friendly and the more environmentally friendly trades they have. And of course, they will become the springboard of the company’s growth going forward.
In addition to paying down debt, dividend continuity is important for common shareholders and management. TEN has also paid a dividend irrespective of the market cycle. Our dividend policy is semiannual. Last year, we paid a dividend of $0.30 in June 2023, a special dividend of $0.40 in October and the second semiannual dividend of $0.30 in December 2023. This year, we announced $0.60 per share for the June 2024 distribution, which is double the amount distributed in June 2023. Management intends to distribute a second semiannual dividend to holders of its common shares in December 2024. Overall, and since our listing in the New York Stock Exchange, the Company has distributed $546 million to its common shareholders since the New York listing in 2002 or an average of about $25 million per year.
If we add the dividends paid to the holders of the company’s preferred shares since 2003, the year the first Series B was issued, then TEN has returned in excess of $823 million to both common and preferred shareholders. Global oil demand continues to grow. Despite financial and geopolitical headwinds, the International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to grow by approximately 1.3 million barrels to a total of 1.3.2 in 2024. It’s going to be another record year after last year. Most of the growth is coming again from Asia Pacific, mainly China and India. On the supply side, most of the growth this year is coming again from non-OPEC countries like Brazil, the United States, Guyana, Canada, Mexico and Norway. As global oil demand continues to grow, let’s look at the forecast for the supply of tankers.
The order book as of February 24 stands at less than 8% or 453 tankers offered over the next 3 years. This figure represents a low number going back to newbuilding statistics for the last 30 years. At the same time, a big part of the fleet, 2,293 vessels or 40% is over 15 years, and almost 830 vessels or 14.6% of the current tanker fleet is over 20 years. The next slide shows the scrapping activity since 2018. Looking at the statistics, it seems that 2023 will reach the bottom for scrapping. We believe scrapping activity will pick up as the global fleet is getting older and older tankers are getting out of favor for long-term business by major charters. And with that, I will ask Paul to walk you through the financial highlights of the fourth quarter and the year.
Paul?
Paul Durham: Thank you, George. Just a few remarks. TEN achieved net income in the year amounted to $300 million. And on top of this, there was a further $500 million coming from EBITDA and altogether adding to the company’s considerable cash reserves. Revenue in the fourth quarter totaled $220 million while total revenues in the year amounted to almost $900 million the 3.4% increase over the prior year. Time charters generated about $540 million of which $72 million related to profit share. Total operating income in the year amounted to almost $390 million a significant increase by 53% over the previous year. Our average daily TCE for the year amounted to $37,000 on average in a market that effectively operated with almost full employment for our vessels.
In the year, eight vessels undertook dry dock. In the fourth quarter, vessel operating expenses by 2% while voyage expenses decreased by 21%. Our new vessel buildings are expected to achieve their delivery date soon and vessel financing has now been mostly covered. We believe the new buildings are expected to generate strong rewards over the years. In the meantime, the company will continue as always to ensure perfect debt service. Given our cash availability, use of funds will remain for us as a priority and in this respect, we are acquiring 11 new excellent vessels and preparing plans accordingly regarding the company’s future. Finally, we believe that the production cuts that hit demand in the latter part of last year were temporary and that cargo growth has already begun to swell again in the early part of this year.
And that’s really all I have.
Nikolas Tsakos : Thank you, Paul. I mean, good news do not have to come in many words. Thank you very much for this. Well, I think as we have seen, it has been a very, very productive year, setting the base of the company’s future. And we are looking I know that many people since we announce every year a record year believe that at some stage we have reached the peak of our profitability. We hope that this is not the case and this by setting the new ships. And I think, George, if you can put the slide on, I think of the future growth, not the one or the ship, that’s the one. And we might be including a couple of new acquisitions and opportunities. Our newbuilding department here, Mr. Arapoglou, is not in his head. In this list, we are very close in securing additional very accretive transactions to the 16 vessels that are out there.
But hopefully, we can announce something after the — within April on that. And with this, we would like to open the floor for any comments or questions. Thank you.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our first questions come from the line of Climent Molins with Value Investor’s Edge.
