Form 6-K SAFE BULKERS, INC. For: Jul 22
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR
15d-16 UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of July 2021
SAFE BULKERS, INC.
(Translation of registrant’s name into English)
Apt. D11,
Les Acanthes
6, Avenue des Citronniers
MC98000 Monaco
Telephone : +30 2 111 888 400
(Address of principal executive office)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F x Form 40-F o
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) ____:
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) ____:
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in the Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes o No x
If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): ____.
EXHIBIT INDEX
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Date: July 22, 2021
SAFE BULKERS, INC., By: /s/ KONSTANTINOS ADAMOPOULOS Name: Konstantinos Adamopoulos Title: Chief Financial Officer
Exhibit 99.1
SAFE BULKERS, INC.
Apt. D11, Les Acanthes
6, Avenue des Citronniers
MC98000, Monaco
July 22, 2021
Dear Stockholder:
You are cordially invited to attend the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Safe Bulkers, Inc., which will be held on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 16:00 local time at 30-32 Karamanli Avenue, Voula 166 73, Athens, Greece.
The following Notice of 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and Proxy Statement describe the items to be considered by the stockholders at such meeting and contain certain information about us and our executive officers and directors.
This year, we have elected to take advantage of the “Notice and Access” rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to furnishing our proxy materials and our 2020 Annual Report to stockholders over the Internet. We believe this process provides a convenient and quick way to access your proxy materials and the 2020 Annual Report. Expanded electronic dissemination expedites receipt of your proxy materials and the 2020 Annual Report while allowing us to reduce the environmental impact of, and certain costs associated with, our annual meeting. Many stockholders will receive a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials and the 2020 Annual Report (the “Notice”) containing convenient instructions on how to access annual meeting materials via the Internet. If you received the Notice, you will not receive a printed copy of the proxy materials or the 2020 Annual Report, unless you specifically request one. The Notice provides instructions on how to receive paper copies if preferred and how to vote via the Internet, by telephone or by mail.
Your vote is important to us. In order to ensure your representation at the meeting, you may submit your proxy and voting instructions via the Internet or by telephone, or, if you receive a paper proxy card and voting instructions by mail, you may vote your shares by completing, signing and dating the proxy card as promptly as possible and returning it in the envelope which accompanied the card. Please refer to the section entitled “Voting via the Internet, by Telephone or by Mail” of the accompanying proxy statement for a description of these voting methods. You can revoke the proxy at any time prior to voting, or vote your shares personally if you attend the meeting. We look forward to seeing you.
The 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is currently scheduled to be held in person as indicated above. In light of the ongoing health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and to best protect the health and welfare of the Company’s stockholders and personnel, the Company urges stockholders to consider not attending the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in person. Stockholders are nevertheless urged to vote their proxies by completing, signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card, or to direct their brokers or other agents on how to vote the shares in their accounts, as applicable. We are actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation and, if we determine that it is not possible or advisable to hold the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in person, or to hold the meeting on the time or date or at the location indicated above, we will announce alternative arrangements for the meeting as promptly as practicable, which may include switching to a virtual meeting format, or changing the time, date or location of the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Any such change will be announced via press release and the filing of additional proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sincerely, Polys Hajioannou Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT. IN ORDER TO ENSURE YOUR REPRESENTATION AT THE 2021 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS AND THAT A QUORUM WILL BE PRESENT, WE URGE YOU TO SUBMIT YOUR VOTE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. A PROMPT RESPONSE IS HELPFUL AND YOUR COOPERATION WILL BE APPRECIATED. VOTING VIA THE INTERNET, BY TELEPHONE OR BY MAIL WILL NOT AFFECT YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE IN PERSON, SHOULD YOU DECIDE TO ATTEND THE 2021 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS.
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SAFE BULKERS, INC.
Apt. D11, Les Acanthes
6, Avenue des Citronniers
MC98000, Monaco
NOTICE OF 2021 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
TO BE HELD ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2021
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Safe Bulkers, Inc., a Marshall Islands corporation, will be held at 16:00 local time, on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 30-32 Karamanli Avenue, Voula 166 73, Athens, Greece for the following purposes:
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To elect three Class I directors to hold office until the annual meeting of stockholders in 2024 and until their respective successors have been duly elected and qualified;
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To ratify the appointment of our independent auditors; and
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To transact such other business as may properly come before the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and any adjournments or postponements thereof.
Only holders of record of Common Stock at the close of business on July 16, 2021 will be entitled to receive notice of, and to vote at, the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and at any adjournments or postponements thereof.
You are cordially invited to attend the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Whether or not you plan to attend the 2021 Annual Meeting in person, please vote as soon as possible. As an alternative to voting in person at the 2021 Annual Meeting, you may vote via the Internet, by telephone or, if you receive a paper proxy card in the mail, by mailing a completed proxy card. For detailed information regarding voting instructions, please refer to the section entitled “Voting via the Internet, by Telephone or by Mail” beginning on page 1 of the proxy statement. You may revoke a previously delivered proxy at any time prior to the 2021 Annual Meeting. If you decide to attend the 2021 Annual Meeting and wish to change your proxy vote, you may do so automatically by voting in person at the 2021 Annual Meeting.
The 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders is currently scheduled to be held in person as indicated above. In light of the ongoing health concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and to best protect the health and welfare of the Company’s stockholders and personnel, the Company urges stockholders to consider not attending the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in person. Stockholders are nevertheless urged to vote their proxies by completing, signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card, or to direct their brokers or other agents on how to vote the shares in their accounts, as applicable. We are actively monitoring the COVID-19 situation and, if we determine that it is not possible or advisable to hold the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in person, or to hold the meeting on the time or date or at the location indicated above, we will announce alternative arrangements for the meeting as promptly as practicable, which may include switching to a virtual meeting format, or changing the time, date or location of the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Any such change will be announced via press release and the filing of additional proxy materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Stockholder Meeting to Be Held on September 13, 2021 The Company’s Proxy Statement, form of proxy card and 2020 Annual Report are available
at: http://sb.agmdocuments.com/ASM2021.html
By Order of the Board of Directors Dr. Loukas Barmparis President and Secretary Monaco July 22, 2021
SAFE BULKERS, INC.
Apt. D11, Les Acanthes
6, Avenue des Citronniers
MC98000, Monaco
PROXY STATE MENT FOR 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders
TO BE HELD ON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2021
INFORMATION CONCERNING SOLICITATION AND VOTING
GENERAL
The proxy is solicited on behalf of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Safe Bulkers, Inc., a Marshall Islands corporation (the “Company”), for use at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held at 16:00 local time, on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 30-32 Karamanli Avenue, Voula 166 73, Athens, Greece, or at any adjournment or postponement thereof (the “Meeting”), for the purposes set forth herein and in the accompanying Notice of 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. On or about July 22, 2021, the Company will first mail to certain stockholders of record the Notice of Internet Availability of proxy materials containing instructions on how to access this Proxy Statement online, or in the alternative, request a paper copy of the proxy materials and a proxy card, and also will first mail to certain other stockholders this Proxy Statement and proxy card.
VOTING RIGHTS AND OUTSTANDING SHARES
As of July 16, 2021 (the “Record Date”), the Company had outstanding 119,488,328 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”). As of the Record Date, the Hajioannou family (including Polys Hajioannou), owned 51,576,425 shares of Common Stock, constituting approximately 43.16% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. Each stockholder of record at the close of business on the Record Date is entitled to one vote for each share of Common Stock then held. A majority of the Common Stock issued and outstanding and entitled to vote at the Meeting, the holders of which are present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at the Meeting. The Common Stock represented by any proxy delivered by way of proxy card or in accordance with the procedures set forth in the section entitled “Voting via the Internet, by Telephone or by Mail” beginning on page 1 of the proxy statement will be voted in accordance with the instructions given on the proxy if the proxy is properly executed and is received by the Company prior to the close of voting at the Meeting. Any proxies returned without instructions will be voted FOR the proposals set forth on the Notice of 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders.
The Common Stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “SB.”
VOTING VIA THE INTERNET, BY TELEPHONE OR BY MAIL
Registered Holders
If you are a “registered holder” (meaning your shares are registered in your name with our transfer agent, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC), then you may vote either in person at the 2021 Annual Meeting or by proxy. If you decide to vote by proxy, you may vote via the Internet, by
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telephone or by mail and your shares will be voted at the 2021 Annual Meeting in the manner you direct. For those stockholders who receive a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, such notice provides information on how to access your proxy card, which contains instructions on how to vote via the Internet or by telephone or receive a paper proxy card to vote by mail. Telephone and Internet voting facilities for stockholders of record will close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on September 12, 2021.
Beneficial Holders
If, like most stockholders, you are a beneficial owner of shares held in “street name” (meaning a broker, trustee, bank, or other nominee holds shares on your behalf), you may vote in person at the 2021 Annual Meeting only if you obtain a legal proxy from the nominee that holds your shares and present it to the inspector of elections with your ballot at the 2021 Annual Meeting. Alternatively, you may provide instructions to the nominee that holds your shares to vote by completing, signing and returning the voting instruction form that the nominee provides to you, or by using the voting arrangements described on the voting instruction form, the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or other materials that the nominee provides to you.
REVOCABILITY OF PROXIES
A Stockholder giving a proxy may revoke it at any time before it is exercised. A proxy may be revoked by filing with the Secretary of the Company at the Company’s principal executive office in Monaco at Apt. D11, Les Acanthes, 6, Avenue des Citronniers, MC98000, Monaco, a written notice of revocation or by a duly executed proxy bearing a later date or by attending the Meeting and voting in person.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON VOTING
As previously discussed, in light of the ongoing health concerns relating to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and to best protect the health and welfare of the Company’s stockholders and personnel, the Company urges stockholders to consider not attending the Meeting in person. Stockholders are nevertheless urged to vote their proxies by completing, signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card , or to direct their brokers or other agents on how to vote the shares in their accounts, as applicable.
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PROPOSAL ONE
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
The Company currently has seven directors divided into three classes. As provided in the Company’s First Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation, as amended, each director is elected to serve for a three-year term until the annual meeting for the year in which his or her term expires and until his or her successor has been duly elected and qualified. The Board has nominated Polys Hajioannou, Ioannis Foteinos and Ole Wikborg, each a Class I Director, for re-election as Class I Directors for terms expiring at the 2024 annual meeting and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. The Board has determined that Ole Wikborg is independent within the current meanings of independence employed by the corporate governance rules of the NYSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).
Unless a proxy is marked to indicate that such authorization is expressly withheld, the persons named in a submitted proxy card intend to vote the shares authorized thereby FOR the election of the following three nominees. It is expected that each of these nominees will be able to serve, but if before the election it develops that any of the nominees is unavailable, the persons named in a submitted proxy card will vote for the election of such substitute nominee or nominees as the current Board may recommend.
Directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes cast at the Meeting.
NOMINEES FOR ELECTION
Name Age (1) Positions Class Term to
Expire Director
Since Polys Hajioannou 54 Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Director Class I 2024 2008 Ioannis Foteinos 62 Chief Operating Officer and Director Class I 2024 2009 Ole Wikborg(2) 65 Director Class I 2024 2008
(1) As of July 16, 2021 (2) Member of audit committee and chairman of the corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee.
Nominees for Election
The Board has nominated the following individuals to serve as Class I directors for a three-year term expiring at the 2024 annual meeting and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified:
Polys Hajioannou
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Class I Director
Polys Hajioannou is our Chief Executive Officer and has been Chairman of our board of directors since 2008. Mr. Hajioannou also serves with Safe Bulkers Management Ltd. in Cyprus, which provides technical, commercial and administrative management services to the Company, and prior to the
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inception of Safe Bulkers Management and Safety Management, with its predecessor Alassia Steamship Co., Ltd., which he joined in 1987. Mr. Hajioannou was elected as a member of the board of directors of the Union of Greek Shipowners in 2006 and served on the board until February 2009. Mr. Hajioannou is a founding member and Vice-President of the Union of Cyprus Shipowners. Mr. Hajioannou is a member of the Lloyd’s Register Hellenic Advisory Committee. In 2011, Mr. Hajioannou was appointed to the board of directors of the Hellenic Mutual War Risks Association (Bermuda) Limited and in 2013 he was elected at the board of directors of the UK Mutual Steam Ship Assurance Association (Bermuda) Limited where he served until 2016. In that year, he was elected member to the newly established UK Club Bermuda Members’ Committee. Mr. Hajioannou holds a Bachelor of Science degree in nautical studies from Sunderland University.
Ioannis Foteinos
Chief Operating Officer and Class I Director
Ioannis Foteinos is our Chief Operating Officer and has been a member of our board of directors since February 2009. Mr. Foteinos has 30 years of experience in the shipping industry. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in nautical studies from Sunderland University, he joined the predecessor of Safety Management in 1987, where he served as Chartering Manager until 2017. Presently he serves as Chartering Manager with Safe Bulkers Management Ltd. in Cyprus, which he joined in May 2017.
Ole Wikborg
Class I Director
Ole Wikborg has been a member of our board of directors and of our audit committee and chairman and member of our corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee since 2008. Mr. Wikborg has been involved in the marine and shipping industry in various capacities for over 35 years. From 2002 to 2016, Mr. Wikborg has served as a member of the management team, a director and a senior underwriter of the Norwegian Hull Club, based in Oslo, Norway. In 2016, he moved to London to take up the position as the head of the London branch of Norwegian Hull Club, established that year. From 2002 to 2006, Mr. Wikborg also served as a member and chairman of the Ocean Hull Committee of the International Union of Marine Insurance (“IUMI”). Since 2006, he has served as Vice President and a member of the Executive Board of the IUMI, and he was elected as President of IUMI from 2010 to 2014. Since 1997, Mr. Wikborg has served as a board member of the Central Union of Marine Insurers, based in Oslo, and was that organization’s Chairman from 2009 to 2013. From 1997 until 2002, Mr. Wikborg served as the senior vice president and manager of the marine and energy division of the Zurich Protector Insurance Company ASA. Prior to his career in marine insurance, Mr. Wikborg served in the Royal Norwegian Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
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DIRECTORS CONTINUING IN OFFICE
Name Age (1) Positions Class Term to
Expire Director
Since Loukas Barmparis 58 President, Secretary of the Board and Director Class II 2022 2008 Christos Megalou (2) 61 Director Class II 2022 2016 Konstantinos Adamopoulos 58 Chief Financial Officer and Director Class III 2023 2008 Frank Sica (3) 70 Director Class III 2023 2008
(1) As of July 16, 2021. (2) Member of the audit committee and member of the corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee. (3) Member of corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee and chairman of the audit committee. The following directors will continue in office:
Class II Directors—Term to Expire in 2022
Dr. Loukas Barmparis
President, Secretary of the Board and Class II Director
Dr. Loukas Barmparis is our President and Secretary and has been a member of our board of directors since 2008. Dr. Barmparis also serves as the technical manager of Safe Bulkers Management Ltd., which he joined in December 2016. Between 2009 and 2016, he was the technical manager of Safety Management Overseas S.A. Until 2009, he was the project development manager of the affiliated Alassia Development S.A., responsible for renewable energy projects. Prior to joining our Manager and Alassia Development S.A., from 1999 to 2005 and from 1993 to 1995, Dr. Barmparis was employed at N. Daskalantonakis Group, Grecotel, one of the largest hotel chains in Greece, as technical manager and project development general manager. During the interim period between 1995 and 1999, Dr. Barmparis was employed at Exergia S.A. as an energy consultant. Dr. Barmparis holds a master of business administration (“M.B.A.”) from the Athens Laboratory of Business Administration, a doctorate from the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, a master of applied science from the University of Toronto and a diploma in mechanical engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Christos Megalou
Class II Director
Christos Megalou has been a member of our board of directors since 2016 and serves as a member of our audit and our corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee. Mr. Megalou has been the Chief Executive Officer of Piraeus Bank SA since 2017. Mr. Megalou has been a Distinguished Fellow of the Global Federation Of Competitiveness Councils in Washington, D.C. since 2016. From 2015 to 2016, Mr. Megalou served as senior advisor to Fairfax Financial Holdings. From 2013 to 2015, Mr. Megalou served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of Eurobank Ergasias SA and was the Deputy Chairman of the Hellenic Bank Association in Greece. From 2010 to 2013, Mr. Megalou served as Chairman of the Hellenic Bankers Association in the U.K. From 1997 to 2013, he was Vice-
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Chairman of Southern Europe, Co-head of Investment Banking for Southern Europe and Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division of Credit Suisse in London. From 1991 to 1997, he was a Director at Barclays de Zoete Wedd. From 1991 to 1996, he was Deputy Chairman of the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce. He started his career in 1984 as an auditor in Arthur Andersen in Athens. Mr. Megalou holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from the University of Athens and an M.B.A. in finance from Aston University in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Class III Directors—Term to Expire in 2023
Konstantinos Adamopoulos
Chief Financial Officer and Class III Director
Konstantinos Adamopoulos is our Chief Financial Officer and has been a member of our board of directors since 2008. Mr. Adamopoulos also serves as the finance manager of Safe Bulkers Management Ltd., which he joined in December 2016. Prior to joining us, Mr. Adamopoulos was employed at Calyon, a financial institution, as a senior relationship manager in shipping finance for 14 years. Prior to this, from 1990 to 1993, Mr. Adamopoulos was employed by the National Bank of Greece in London as an account officer for shipping finance and in Athens as deputy head of the export finance department. Prior to this, from 1987 to 1989, Mr. Adamopoulos served as a finance officer in the Greek Air Force. Mr. Adamopoulos holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the Athens School of Economics and Business Science and an M.B.A. in finance from the Cass Business School, City University of London.
Frank Sica
Class III Director
Frank Sica has been a member of our board of directors and of our corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee, and a member and chairman of our audit committee, since 2008. Mr. Sica is also director of CSG Systems International, an account management and billing software company for communication industries, JetBlue Airways Corporation, a commercial airline, and Kohl’s Corporation, an owner and operator of department stores. Mr. Sica has served as a Partner at Tailwind Capital, a private equity firm, since 2006. From 2004 to 2005, Mr. Sica was a Senior Advisor to Soros Private Funds Management. From 1998 to 2003, Mr. Sica worked at Soros Fund Management where he oversaw the direct real estate and private equity investment activities of Soros. From 1988 to 1998, Mr. Sica was a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley. Mr. Sica holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Independence
The Board has determined that each of Messrs. Sica, Wikborg and Megalou are independent within the current meanings of independence employed by the corporate governance rules of the NYSE and the SEC.
Committees of the Board
Audit committee
The Company’s audit committee consists of Ole Wikborg, Christos Megalou and Frank Sica, as chairman. The Board has determined that Frank Sica qualifies as an audit committee “financial expert,” as such term is defined in Regulation S-K promulgated by the SEC. The audit committee is responsible for:
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· the appointment, compensation, retention and oversight of independent auditors and approving any non-audit services performed by such auditor; · assisting the Board in monitoring the integrity of the Company’s financial statements, the independent auditors’ qualifications and independence, the performance of the independent accountants and the Company’s internal audit function and the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements; · annually reviewing an independent auditors’ report describing the auditing firm’s internal quality-control procedures, and any material issues raised by the most recent internal quality control review, or peer review, of the auditing firm; · discussing the annual audited financial and quarterly statements with management and the independent auditors; · discussing earnings press releases, as well as financial information and earnings guidance provided to analysts and rating agencies; · discussing policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management; · meeting separately, and periodically, with management, internal auditors and the independent auditor; · reviewing with the independent auditor any audit problems or difficulties and management’s responses; · setting clear hiring policies for employees or former employees of the independent auditors; · annually reviewing the adequacy of the audit committee’s written charter, the internal audit charter, the scope of the annual internal audit plan and the results of internal audits; · reporting regularly to the full Board; and · handling such other matters that are specifically delegated to the audit committee by the Board from time to time.
Corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee
The Company’s corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee consists of Christos Megalou, Frank Sica and Ole Wikborg, as chairman. The corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee is responsible for:
· nominating candidates, consistent with criteria approved by the full Board, for the approval of the full Board to fill Board vacancies as and when they arise, as well as putting in place plans for succession, in particular, of the Chairman of the Board and executive officers; · selecting, or recommending that the full Board select, the director nominees for the next annual meeting of stockholders; · determining or administering the Company’s long term incentive plans, including any equity based plans and grants under such plans;
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· developing and recommending to the full Board corporate governance guidelines applicable to the Company and keeping such guidelines under review; · overseeing the evaluation of the Board and management; · reviewing regularly the Board structure, size and composition, taking into account the importance of a diverse composite mix of ethnicities, ages, gender, race, geographic locations, education and professional skills, backgrounds and experience, among other characteristics; · maintaining a commitment to supporting, valuing and leveraging diversity in the composition of the Board among other qualities that the Board believes serve the best interest of the Company and its stakeholders; and · handling such other matters that are specifically delegated to the corporate governance, nominating and compensation committee by the Board from time to time.
THE BOARD UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTORS. UNLESS REVOKED AS PROVIDED ABOVE, PROXIES RECEIVED BY MANAGEMENT WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE PROPOSED DIRECTORS UNLESS A CONTRARY VOTE IS SPECIFIED.
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PROPOSAL TWO
RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT AUDITORS
The Board is submitting for ratification at the Meeting the appointment of Deloitte, Certified Public Accountants S.A. as the Company’s independent auditors for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021.
Deloitte, Certified Public Accountants S.A. has advised the Company that the firm does not have any direct or indirect financial interest in the Company, nor has such firm had any such interest in connection with the Company during the past three fiscal years other than in its capacity as the Company’s independent auditors.
All services rendered by the independent auditors are subject to review by the Company’s audit committee.
Approval of Proposal Two requires the majority of the votes cast at the Meeting.
THE BOARD UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF DELOITTE, CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS S.A. AS INDEPENDENT AUDITORS OF THE COMPANY FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2021. UNLESS REVOKED AS PROVIDED ABOVE, PROXIES RECEIVED BY MANAGEMENT WILL BE VOTED IN FAVOR OF SUCH APPROVAL UNLESS A CONTRARY VOTE IS SPECIFIED.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Abstentions and broker non-votes will not affect the election of directors. Abstentions will have the effect of a vote “Against” on the other proposals and broker non-votes will not affect the outcome of the vote on other proposals.
SOLICITATION
The cost of preparing and soliciting proxies will be borne by the Company. Solicitation will be made primarily by mail, but stockholders may be solicited by telephone, e-mail, or personal contact.
OTHER MATTERS
No other matters are expected to be presented for action at the Meeting. Should any additional matter come before the Meeting, it is intended that proxies in the accompanying form will be voted in accordance with the judgment of the person or persons named in the proxy.
By Order of the Board of Directors Dr. Loukas Barmparis President and Secretary
July 16, 2021
Monaco
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Exhibit 99.2
0
SAFE BULKERS, INC.
THIS PROXY IS BEING SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Proxy card for use at the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders or any adjournment or postponement thereof (the “Meeting”) of Safe Bulkers, Inc., a Marshall Islands company (the “Company”), to be held on Monday, September 13, 2021 at 16:00 local time, at 30-32 Karamanli Avenue, Voula 166 73, Athens, Greece.
The person signing on the reverse of this card, being a holder of shares of common stock of the Company, hereby appoints as his/her/its proxy at the Meeting, Polys Hajioannou and Konstantinos Adamopoulos, or either one of them acting alone, with full power of substitution, and directs such proxy to vote (or abstain from voting) at the Meeting all of his, her or its shares of common stock as indicated on the reverse of this card or, to the extent that no such indication is given, to vote as set forth herein, and authorizes such proxy to vote in his discretion on such other business as may properly come before the Meeting.
Please indicate on the reverse of this card how the shares of common stock represented by this proxy are to be voted. If this card is returned duly signed but without any indication as to how the shares of common stock are to be voted in respect of any of the resolutions described on the reverse, the stockholder will be deemed to have directed the proxy to vote (1) FOR the election of all the Class I director nominees to the Board of Directors to hold office for a three-year term until the annual meeting for the year in which their terms expire and until their successors are duly elected and qualified and (2) FOR ratification of appointment of Deloitte, Certified Public Accountants S.A. as the Company’s independent auditors for the year ending December 31, 2021.
(Continued and to be signed on the reverse side.)
1.1 14475
2021 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF
SAFE BULKERS, INC.
September 13, 2021
GO GREEN
e-Consent makes it easy to go paperless. With e-Consent, you can quickly access your proxy material, statements and other eligible documents online, while reducing costs, clutter and paper waste. Enroll today via www.astfinancial.com to enjoy online access.
NOTICE OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIAL :
The Notice of 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, 2021 Proxy Statement,
Form of Electronic Proxy Card and 2020 Annual Report
are available at http://sb.agmdocuments.com/ASM2021.html
Please sign, date and mail
your proxy card in the
envelope provided as soon
as possible.
Please detach along perforated line and mail in the envelope provided.
20330000000000000000 9 091321
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF EACH OF THE DIRECTOR NOMINEES AND “FOR” PROPOSAL 2.
PLEASE SIGN, DATE AND RETURN PROMPTLY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. PLEASE MARK YOUR VOTE IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS SHOWN HERE x
- Election of the Class I directors listed below to hold office for a three-year term until the annual meeting for the year in which their terms expire and until their successors are duly elected and qualified. o FOR ALL NOMINEES NOMINEES: Polys Hajioannou Ioannis Foteinos Ole Wikborg o WITHHOLD AUTHORITY
FOR ALL NOMINEES o FOR ALL EXCEPT
(See instructions below) INSTRUCTIONS: To withhold authority to vote for any individual nominee(s), mark “FOR ALL EXCEPT” and fill in the circle next to each nominee you wish to withhold, as shown here: To change the address on your account, please check the box at right and indicate your new address in the address space above. Please note that changes to the registered name(s) on the account may not be submitted via this method. o
FOR AGAINST ABSTAIN 2. Ratification of appointment of Deloitte, Certified Public Accountants S.A. as the Company’s independent auditors for the year ending December 31, 2021. o o o Note: To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting or any adjournment or adjournments thereof. PLEASE INDICATE WITH AN “X” IN THE APPROPRIATE SPACE HOW YOU WISH YOUR SHARES TO BE VOTED. IF NO INDICATION IS GIVEN, PROXIES WILL BE VOTED FOR THE ELECTION OF ALL THE NOMINEES TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND FOR PROPOSAL TWO, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
Signature of Stockholder Date: Signature of Stockholder Date:
Note: Please sign exactly as your name or names appear on this Proxy. When shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person.
Exhibit 99.3
M/V Troodos Oak, 85,000 Built 2020 Japan
Safe Bulkers, Inc. is a global shipping company providing worldwide seaborne transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector. We are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol “SB”. We or our managers have offices in Monaco, Cyprus, Greece and Switzerland. Our vessels transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal and grain and minor bulks, which include bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. We cooperate with key market players, shipyards, charterers, financial institutions and others to advance our business and create value for our shareholders. Being a successor to a business that first invested in shipping in 1958, we hold true to that legacy with uninterrupted presence since then, throughout several shipping cycles. We operate in highly competitive markets that are based primarily on supply and demand. We believe we differentiate ourselves from our competition by providing modern vessels with advanced designs and technological specifications. The majority of our fleet has been built in Japanese shipyards, which we believe provides us with an advantage in attracting large, well-established customers, including Japanese customers. We intend to employ our vessels on both period time charters and spot time charters, according to our assessment of market conditions, with some of the world’s largest consumers of marine drybulk transportation services. The vessels we deploy on period time charters provide us with relatively stable cash flow and high utilization rates, while the vessels we deploy in the spot market allow us to maintain our flexibility in low charter market conditions. Our fleet consists of dry bulk vessels of four sizes, namely Capesize vessels with carrying capacity of about 180,000 dwt; Post Panamax vessels with carrying capacities of between 85,000 dwt and 100,000 dwt; Kamsarmax vessels with carrying capacities of between 80,000 dwt and 83,000 dwt; and Panamax vessels with carrying capacities of between 75,000 and 78,000 dwt. As of March 15, 2021, we had a fleet of 43 vessels, with an average age of 10.3 years and an aggregate capacity of 3.9 million deadweight ton (“dwt”) expressed in metric tons, referring to the maximum weight of cargo and supplies that a vessel can carry. In addition, our orderbook consisted of two EEDI Phase 3, NOx Tier III, Japanese dry-bulk newbuilds scheduled to be delivered in 2022. As part of our fleet renewal plan, we had sold two of our older Panamax class vessels. Historically, we have invested mainly in newbuild vessels, with advanced technological specifications, aiming to renew and expand our fleet. Furthermore, at present, the Company is pursuing a fleet renewal strategy selling selectively certain vessels including its older vessels and ordering newbuild vessels designed to meet more stringent future environmental regulations related to Green House Gas (“GHG”) emissions (GHG - EEDI Phase 3) and nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) emissions (NOx-Tier III). By complying with future environmental regulation, by upgrading our existing fleet in relation to energy efficiency, Sulphur Oxides (“SOx”) emissions and ballast water treatment systems, by gradually renewing our fleet selling selectively older vessels and ordering newbuilds at the edge of the technology, we believe that Company’s fleet will be maintained in the forefront of environmental efficiency and operating excellence creating sustained operational and financial advantages in the changing landscape of new environmental regulations. 20 Annual Report 1
CHAIRMAN’S
LETTER Polys Hajioannou is our Chief Executive Officer and has been Chairman of our board of directors since 2008.
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Fellow Shareholders,
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a severe global recession unique in its depth and severity significantly impacting the shipping industry and negatively affecting our results of operations for 2020. The pandemic also affected our seafarers as port lockdowns were imposed globally and certain ports that have since reopened have subsequently closed again for crew changes. Throughout 2020, we worked extensively to find solutions effectively managing crew changes and taking measures to protect our seafarers’ and shore employees’ health and well-being, keeping our vessels sailing with minimal disruption to their trading ability and ultimately servicing uninterruptedly our charterers.
Despite the pandemic, supported by our legacy culture of lean operations we have managed to control our operating expenses at a low level, achieved breakeven as early as the third quarter of 2020 and returned in black during the fourth quarter of the year. We emerged ever stronger in 2021, with a liquidity of $188.2 million, as of March 15, 2021.
We remain committed to further reducing our environmental impact by improving the quality of fuel emissions of our fleet and continuously improving our environmental performance, in our goal to distinguish ourselves among our peers as an environmental conscious leader in the dry bulk shipping industry. We follow a plan based on our high quality Japanese fleet with a built-in advantage of environmental footprint compared to the global dry-bulk fleet, and further, aiming to upgrade and gradually renew our fleet with advanced design and energy efficient vessels, sensibly deleverage our balance sheet, targeting to create value for our shareholders. We believe our environmental investments will contribute to sustained operational and financial advantages. Management alignment with shareholding, performance and trust built over the years are of paramount importance in the success of our plan.
The first months of 2021 have been quite robust for the dry bulk industry as a combined effect of the strong economic stimulus packages of the United States and China, the gradual reopening of world economies, leading to strong demand for major dry bulk commodities, and of the twenty-year low orderbook from the supply side. Looking onwards, we believe that the market fundamentals are there for a substantial growth of seaborne trade and rising demand for shipping transportation services. We are optimistic about the prospects of the charter market as we remain focused on capital efficiency and operational discipline.
We would like to thank all of our stockholders for their continued support and interest in our company and proudly present the 2020 Annual Report which provides detailed information about our business and financial performance.
Polys V. Hajioannou
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board
20 Annual Report 3
OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
FINANCIAL () Definitions Time charter equivalent rate, or TCE rate, represents charter revenues less commissions and voyage expenses divided by the number of available days. EBITDA represents Net income before net interest expense, tax, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA represents EBITDA before gain/(loss) on derivatives, early redelivery cost, loss on inventory valuation and, gain/(loss) on foreign currency. Earnings/(loss) per share (“EPS”) and Adjusted Earnings/(loss) per share (“Adjusted EPS”) represent Net income/(loss) and Adjusted Net income/(loss) less preferred dividend and preferred deemed dividend divided by the weighted average number of shares respectively. EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income/(loss), Adjusted Net income/(loss) available to common shareholders, Earnings/(loss) per share and Adjusted Earnings/(loss) per share are not recognized measurements under US GAAP. HIGHLIGHTS() 4 Safebulkers 20
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FLEET PROFILE Vessel Name Dwt Year Built* Country of Construction CURRENT FLEET Panamax Maria 76,000 2003 Japan Koulitsa 76,900 2003 Japan Paraskevi 74,300 2003 Japan Vassos 76,000 2004 Japan Katerina 76,000 2004 Japan Maritsa 76,000 2005 Japan Paraskevi 2 75,000 2011 Japan Efrossini 75,000 2012 Japan Zoe 75,000 2013 Japan Kypros Land 77,100 2014 Japan Kypros Sea 77,100 2014 Japan Kypros Bravery 78,000 2015 Japan Kypros Sky 77,100 2015 Japan Kypros Loyalty 78,000 2015 Japan Kypros Spirit 78,000 2016 Japan Kamsarmax Pedhoulas Merchant 82,300 2006 Japan Pedhoulas Trader 82,300 2006 Japan Pedhoulas Leader 82,300 2007 Japan Pedhoulas Commander 83,700 2008 Japan Pedhoulas Builder 81,600 2012 China Pedhoulas Fighter 81,600 2012 China Pedhoulas Farmer 81,600 2012 China Pedhoulas Cherry 82,000 2015 China Pedhoulas Rose 82,000 2017 China Pedhoulas Cedrus 81,800 2018 Japan Post-Panamax Marina 87,000 2006 Japan 6 Safebulkers 20
Vessel Name Dwt Year Built* Country of Construction Xenia 87,000 2006 Japan Sophia 87,000 2007 Japan Eleni 87,000 2008 Japan Martine 87,000 2009 Japan Andreas K 92,000 2009 South Korea Panayiota K 92,000 2010 South Korea Agios Spyridonas 92,000 2010 South Korea Venus Heritage 95,800 2010 Japan Venus History 95,800 2011 Japan Venus Horizon 95,800 2012 Japan Troodos Sun 85,000 2016 Japan Troodos Air 85,000 2016 Japan Troodos Oak 85,000 2020 Japan Capesize Mount Troodos 181,400 2009 Japan Kanaris 178,100 2010 China Pelopidas 176,000 2011 China Lake Despina 181,400 2014 Japan Subtotal 3,937,000 NEW BUILDS Kamsarmax TBN Hull 1381** 82,000 1H 2022 Japan Post-Panamax TBN Hull 11013** 87,000 Q3 2022 Japan Subtotal 169,000 TOTAL 4,106,000 * For existing vessels, the year represents the year built. For newbuilds, the dates shown reflect the expected delivery dates. ** To be Named. 20 Annual Report 7
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 20-F
(Mark One) o Registration statement pursuant to Section 12(b) or (g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 x Annual Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 o Transition Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 o Shell Company Report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Commission File Number 001-34077
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SAFE BULKERS, INC. (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter) Not Applicable (Translation of Registrant’s name into English) Republic of the Marshall Islands (Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) Safe Bulkers, Inc.
Apt. D11
Les Acanthes
6, Avenue des Citronniers
MC98000 Monaco
(Address of principal executive office) Dr. Loukas Barmparis
President
Telephone: +30 2 111 888 400
Telephone: +357 25 887 200
Facsimile: +30 2 111 878 500
(Name, Address, Telephone Number and Facsimile Number of Company contact person) Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to
Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of Each Class Trading
Symbol(s) Name of Each Exchange
on Which Registered Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share SB New York Stock Exchange Preferred stock purchase rights N/A New York Stock Exchange 8.00% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Shares, par value $0.01 per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share SB.PR.C New York Stock Exchange 8.00% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Shares, par value $0.01 per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share SB.PR.D New York Stock Exchange
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None
Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report. As of December 31, 2020, there were 102,174,594 shares of the registrant’s common stock, 2,297,504 shares of 8.00% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Shares, $0.01 par value per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share, and 3,195,050 shares of 8.00% Series D Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Shares, $0.01 par value per share, liquidation preference $25.00 per share, outstanding.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No x
If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one): Large accelerated filer o Accelerated filer o Non-accelerated filer x Emerging growth company o
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. x
Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing. U.S. GAAP x International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board o Other o
If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 o Item 18 o
If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No x
20 Annual Report 9
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS 13 ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE 13 ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION 13 ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY 39 ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 55 ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS 55 ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES 67 ITEM 7. MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS 70 ITEM 8. FINANCIAL INFORMATION 75 ITEM 9. THE OFFER AND LISTING 76 ITEM 10. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 76 ITEM 11. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 87 ITEM 12. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES 88 ITEM 13. DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES 88 ITEM 14. MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS 88 ITEM 15. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 88 ITEM 16. [RESERVED] 90 ITEM 16A. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT 90 ITEM 16B. CODE OF ETHICS 90 ITEM 16C. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES 90 ITEM 16D. EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES 91 ITEM 16E. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS 91 ITEM 16F. CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT 92 ITEM 16G. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 92 ITEM 16H. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE 92 ITEM 17. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 92 ITEM 18. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 92 ITEM 19. EXHIBITS 92
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ABOUT THIS REPORT
In this annual report, “Safe Bulkers,” “the Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Safe Bulkers, Inc. and its subsidiaries (as well as the predecessors of the foregoing). These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. Our affiliated management companies, Safety Management Overseas S.A., a company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Panama (“Safety Management”), and Safe Bulkers Management Limited, a company organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of Cyprus (“Safe Bulkers Management”), are each sometimes referred to as a “Manager,” and together as our “Managers.”
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
All statements in this annual report that are not statements of historical fact are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The disclosure and analysis set forth in this annual report includes assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs about future events in a number of places, particularly in relation to our operations, cash flows, financial position, plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in our business and the markets in which we operate. These statements are intended as forward-looking statements. In some cases, predictive, future-tense or forward-looking words such as “believe,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “hope,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “plan,” “target,” “seek,” “potential,” “may,” “will,” “likely to,” “would,” “could,” “should” and “expect” and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. In addition, we and our representatives may from time to time make other oral or written statements which are forward-looking statements, including in our periodic reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), other information sent to our security holders, and other written materials.
All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. The occurrence of the events described, and the achievement of the expected results, depend on many events, some or all of which are not predictable or within our control. Actual results may differ materially from expected results.
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, such matters as:
~ future operating or financial results and future revenues and expenses; ~ future, pending or recent acquisitions, business strategy, and other plans and objectives for growth and future operations, areas of possible expansion and expected capital spending or operating expenses; ~ availability of key employees, crew, length and number of off-hire days, drydocking requirements and fuel and insurance costs; ~ general market conditions and shipping industry trends, including charter rates, vessel values and factors affecting supply and demand; ~ competition within our industry; ~ reputational risks; ~ our financial condition and liquidity, including our ability to make required payments under our credit facilities, comply with our loan covenants and obtain additional financing in the future to fund capital expenditures, acquisitions and other corporate activities and to comply with the restrictive and other covenants in our financing arrangements; ~ the strength of world economies and currencies; ~ fluctuations in interest rates and foreign exchange rates; ~ potential exposure or loss from investment in derivative instruments; ~ general domestic and international political conditions; ~ the effect of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (the “2019-nCoV”) on our business and operations and any related remediation measures on our performance and business prospects (including our ability to successfully install the one remaining sulfur oxide exhaust gas cleaning system (“Scrubber”)); ~ business disruptions due to natural disasters or other disasters or disruptions outside our control; ~ the extent to which any new wave or new variant of the 2019-nCoV will impact the Company’s results of operations and financial condition; ~ the effectiveness of actions taken to contain or treat the spread and impact of 2019-nCoV, including the distribution and effectiveness of the vaccines for 2019-nCoV; ~ potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events; ~ the overall health and condition of the U.S. and global financial markets, including the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies; ~ our expectations about availability of vessels to purchase, the time that it may take to construct and deliver new vessels or the useful lives of our vessels; ~ our ability to successfully implement a gradual fleet renewal with modern, energy efficient vessels; ~ our continued ability to enter into period time charters with our customers and secure profitable employment for our vessels in the spot market; ~ vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hire; ~ our future capital expenditures (including our ability to successfully install ballast water treatment systems in all of our vessels and complete our program for the remaining installation of sulfur oxide exhaust gas cleaning systems) and investments in the construction, acquisition and refurbishment of our vessels (including the amount and nature thereof and the timing of completion thereof, the delivery and commencement of operations dates, expected downtime delays, cost overruns and lost revenue);
20 Annual Report 11
~ our ability to realize the expected benefits from sulfur oxide exhaust gas cleaning systems; ~ availability of financing and refinancing, our level of indebtedness and our need for cash to meet our debt service obligations; ~ our expectations relating to dividend payments and ability to make such payments; ~ our ability to leverage our Managers’ relationships and reputation within the drybulk shipping industry to our advantage; ~ our anticipated general and administrative expenses; ~ environmental and regulatory conditions, including changes in laws, governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities; ~ our ability to implement and maintain adequate environmental and social responsibility policies and programs; ~ risks inherent in vessel operation, including terrorism (including cyber terrorism), piracy corruption, militant activities, political instability, terrorism and ethnic unrest in locations where we may operate and discharge of pollutants; ~ potential liability from pending or future litigation; and ~ other factors discussed in “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors” of this annual report.
See the sections entitled “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020.
We caution that the forward-looking statements included in this annual report represent our estimates, analyses formed by applying our experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate in the circumstances and assumptions only as of the date of this annual report and are not intended to give any assurance as to future results. All future written and verbal forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We undertake no obligation, and specifically decline any obligation, except as required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs about future events may, and often do, vary from actual results and these differences can be material. The reasons for this include the risks, uncertainties and factors described under “Item 3. Key Information—D. Risk Factors.” which we urge you to read for a more complete discussion of these risks and uncertainties and for other risks and uncertainties. As a result and in light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed in this annual report might not occur and our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on any forward-looking statements.
We undertake no obligation, and specifically decline any obligation, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this annual report, except as required by law, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, a change in our views or expectations or otherwise. These factors and the other risk factors described in this annual report are not necessarily all of the important factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed in any of our forward-looking statements. Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also cause such discrepancies. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of these factors. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Consequently, there can be no assurance that actual results or developments anticipated by us will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, us. Given these uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.
Unless otherwise indicated, all references to “Dollars” and “$” in this report are to U.S. Dollars and all references to “Euro” and “€” in this report are to Euros.
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PART I ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS Not applicable. ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE Not applicable. ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION
Safe Bulkers, Inc., was formed on December 11, 2007 under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Safe Bulkers’ common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “SB.” The Company’s series C preferred stock and series D preferred stock are listed on the NYSE, and trade under the symbols “SB.PR.C” and “SB.PR.D”, respectively. We are a global shipping company providing worldwide seaborne transportation solutions in the dry bulk sector. Our vessels transport major bulks, which include iron ore, coal and grain and minor bulks, which include bauxite, fertilizers and steel products. We or our managers have offices in Monaco, Greece, Cyprus and Switzerland. Our fleet consists of dry bulk vessels of four sizes, namely Capesize vessels with carrying capacity of about 180,000 dwt; Post Panamax vessels with carrying capacities of between 85,000 dwt and 100,000 dwt; Kamsarmax vessels with carrying capacities of between 80,000 dwt and 83,000 dwt; and Panamax vessels with carrying capacities of between 75,000 and 78,000 dwt. As of March 15, 2021, we have a fleet of 43 vessels, with an aggregate capacity of 3.9 million deadweight ton (“dwt”) expressed in metric tons, referring to the maximum weight of cargo and supplies that a vessel can carry. In addition, we have entered into agreements for the sale of two of our older vessels in the first half of 2021 and for the acquisition of two dry-bulk newbuilds scheduled to be delivered in 2022.
(A) Selected Financial Data
The following table presents selected consolidated financial and other data of Safe Bulkers, Inc. for each of the five years in the five year period ended December 31, 2020. The table should be read together with “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects.” The selected consolidated financial data of Safe Bulkers, Inc. is a summary of, is derived from, and is qualified by reference to, our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which have been prepared in accordance with United States (the “U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”).
Our audited consolidated statements of operations, shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and the consolidated balance sheets at December 31, 2019 and 2020, together with the notes thereto, are included in “Item 18. Financial Statements” and should be read in their entirety.
The historical results included below and elsewhere in this document are not necessarily indicative of our future performance.
Year Ended December 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (in thousands of U.S. dollars except share data) STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS Revenues $ 113,959 $ 154,040 $ 201,548 $ 206,682 $ 206,035 Commissions (4,187) (6,008) (8,357) (8,921) (7,877) Net revenues 109,772 148,032 193,191 197,761 198,158 Voyage expenses (7,679) (3,932) (6,378) (13,715) (41,582) Vessel operating expenses (49,519) (52,794) (63,512) (68,569) (70,086) Depreciation (49,485) (51,424) (48,067) (50,310) (54,269) General and administrative expenses Management fee to related parties (11,611) (13,511) (16,536) (18,050) (18,884) Company administration expenses (3,770) (2,607) (2,706) (2,589) (2,618) Early redelivery cost, net — (1,263) (105) (63) — Loss on inventory valuation — — — — — Other operating income/(cost) 794 (390) — (414) (241) Loss on sale of assets (2,750) (120) — — —
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Year Ended December 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (in thousands of U.S. dollars except share data) STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS Impairment loss (17,163) (91,293) — — — Operating (loss)/income (31,411) (69,302) 55,887 44,051 10,478 Interest expense (19,576) (23,224) (25,713) (26,815) (21,233) Other finance (costs)/income (1,735) 7,651 (973) (714) (641) Interest income 515 799 929 1,558 604 (Loss)/gain on derivatives (620) 72 18 (121) (1,303) Foreign currency (loss)/gain (76) 1,782 (670) (76) 916 Amortization and write-off of deferred finance charges (3,063) (2,457) (1,794) (1,845) (1,726) Net (loss)/income $ (55,966) $ (84,679) $ 27,684 $ 16,038 $ (12,905) (Loss)/earnings per share of Common Stock, basic and diluted $ (0.83) $ (0.98) $ 0.16 $ 0.04 $ (0.25) Cash dividends declared
per share of Common Stock $ — $ — $ — $ — $ — Cash dividends declared
per share of Preferred B Shares $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 0.62 $ — $ — Cash dividends declared
per share of Preferred C Shares $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 Cash dividends declared
per share of Preferred D Shares $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 Weighted average number of shares of Common Stock outstanding, basic and diluted 84,526,411 100,932,876 101,604,339 101,686,312 102,617,944
Year Ended December 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (in thousands of U.S. dollars) OTHER FINANCIAL DATA Net cash provided by operating activities $ 13,478 $ 50,101 $ 85,449 $ 58,284 $ 63,376 Net cash used in investing activities (1) (39,873) (39,590) (63,670) (36,785) (34,784) Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities (83,875) (47,060) (15,580) 8,540 (9,293) Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash (1) (110,270) (36,549) 6,199 30,039 19,299
(1) Effective December 31, 2017, we adopted the new standard Accounting Standards Update ASU 2016-18 – Restricted Cash. The implementation of this update affected the presentation in the statement of cash flows relating to changes in restricted cash which are presented as part of Cash whereas we previously presented these within investing activities. This standard was retrospectively applied to all periods presented.
Year Ended December 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (in thousands of U.S. dollars) BALANCE SHEET DATA Total current assets 111,008 79,086 101,262 135,989 134,734 Total fixed assets 1,051,726 946,529 963,887 964,000 951,290 Other non-current assets 11,019 9,482 11,050 14,654 19,605 Total assets 1,173,753 1,035,097 1,076,199 1,114,643 1,105,629 Total current liabilities 23,779 36,933 54,606 86,784 104,715 Long-term debt, net of current portion and of deferred finance charges 569,781 541,816 538,508 536,995 531,883 Total liabilities 595,217 578,749 593,367 624,701 642,770
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Year Ended December 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 (in thousands of U.S. dollars) BALANCE SHEET DATA Mezzanine equity — — 16,998 17,200 18,112 Common stock, $0.001 par value 99 102 103 104 102 Total shareholders’ equity 578,536 456,348 465,834 472,742 444,747 Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity 1,172,096 1,035,097 1,076,199 1,114,643 1,105,629
(B) Capitalization and Indebtedness Not applicable. (C) Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds Not applicable. (D) Risk Factors
SOME OF THE FOLLOWING RISKS RELATE PRINCIPALLY TO THE INDUSTRY IN WHICH WE OPERATE AND OUR BUSINESS IN GENERAL. OTHER RISKS RELATE PRINCIPALLY TO THE SECURITIES MARKET AND OWNERSHIP OF OUR COMMON STOCK, $0.001 PAR VALUE PER SHARE (“COMMON STOCK”), SERIES C CUMULATIVE REDEEMABLE PERPETUAL PREFERRED SHARES, PAR VALUE $0.01 PER SHARE, LIQUIDATION PREFERENCE $25.00 PER SHARE (“SERIES C PREFERRED SHARES”) AND SERIES D CUMULATIVE REDEEMABLE PERPETUAL PREFERRED SHARES, PAR VALUE $0.01 PER SHARE, LIQUIDATION PREFERENCE $25.00 PER SHARE (“SERIES D PREFERRED SHARES,” AND TOGETHER WITH THE SERIES C PREFERRED SHARES, THE “PREFERRED SHARES”), INCLUDING THE TAX CONSEQUENCES OF OWNERSHIP OF OUR COMMON STOCK AND PREFERRED SHARES. THE OCCURRENCE OF ANY OF THE RISKS OR EVENTS DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION COULD SIGNIFICANTLY AND NEGATIVELY AFFECT OUR BUSINESS, FINANCIAL CONDITION OR OPERATING RESULTS OR THE TRADING PRICE OF OUR COMMON STOCK OR PREFERRED SHARES.
Risk Factor Summary
Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Below is a summary of material factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. Importantly, this summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, as well as other risks that we face, can be found after this summary.
Risks Inherent in Our Industry and Our Business
~ Cyclicality and volatility may lead to reductions in the charter rates we are able to obtain, in vessel values and in our earnings, results of operations and available cash flow. ~ A negative change in global economic or regulatory conditions could reduce charter rates. ~ An oversupply of drybulk vessel capacity may lead to reductions in charter rates and results of operations. ~ The market value of drybulk vessels is highly volatile. A decrease of the market values of our vessels could cause us to incur an impairment loss and affect our results of operations. ~ Technological developments could reduce our earnings and the value of our vessels. ~ Drybulk industry is competitive, and we may not be able to compete successfully for charters with new entrants or established companies with greater resources. ~ Changes in labor laws and regulations, collective bargaining negotiations and labor disputes could increase our crew costs. ~ We are subject to complex regulations and liability, including anti-bribery laws and environmental laws that may require significant expenditures. ~ Our Scrubber-fitted vessels may face difficulties from the price differential between compliant fuels with 0.5% sulfur content (“Compliant Fuels”) and heavy fuel oil with sulfur content of 3.5% (“HFO”), regulatory restrictions and shortage in availability of HFO, while our non–scrubber fitted vessels may face difficulties in competing with Scrubber-fitted vessels and incur additional repairs and maintenance costs, affecting our results of operations. ~ Environmental regulations in relation to green house gas (“GHG”) emissions may increase operational and financial restrictions, environmental compliance costs and lead to environmental taxation affecting less energy efficient vessels, reduce their trade and competitiveness and make certain vessels in our fleet obsolete, which may result in financial impacts on our results of operations. ~ Increasing scrutiny and changing expectations from investors, lenders and other market participants with respect to our Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) policies may impose additional costs or expose us to additional risks. ~ Failure to comply with complex laws and regulations, including international safety regulations and requirements imposed by our classification societies may subject us to increased liability, may adversely affect our insurance coverage and may result in a denial of access to, or detention in, certain ports.
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~ Increased inspection procedures and tighter import and export controls could increase costs and disrupt our business. ~ Our vessels are exposed to operational risks that may not be adequately covered by our insurance. ~ World events, including terrorist attacks and international hostilities, could negatively affect our results of operations. ~ The outbreak of the 2019-nCoV and the resulting disruptions to the Company and the international shipping industry have, and could continue to negatively affect our business. ~ Acts of piracy and world events, including terrorist attacks and hostilities, could negatively affect our results of operations and financial condition. Maritime claimants could arrest one or more of our vessels, and interrupt our cash flow. ~ Governments could requisition our vessels during a period of war or emergency, resulting in a loss of earnings. ~ We rely on information technology, and if we are unable to protect against service interruptions, data corruption, cyber based attacks or network security breaches, our operations could be disrupted and our business negatively affected. ~ Certain operational and technical risks of drybulk vessels could lead to an environmental disaster, affecting our business. ~ Political uncertainty and an increase in trade protectionism could have a negative impact on our charterers’ business. ~ Seasonal fluctuations in industry demand could affect our financial condition and our ability to pay dividends. ~ Charterers may renegotiate or default on period time charters, which could reduce our revenues. ~ The loss of one or more of our customers could have a material adverse effect on our business. ~ Violations of our anti-bribery policy, consistent with the provisions of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) could result in damage of our reputation, sanctions, criminal penalties, imprisonment, civil action and fines, and affect on our business. ~ We may have difficulty properly managing our planned growth through acquisitions of additional vessels. ~ Failure to improve our operations and financial systems or recruit suitable employees as we expand our business, may affect our performance. ~ Unless we set aside reserves for vessel replacement, at the end of a vessel’s useful life, our revenue will decline, which would adversely affect our cash flows and income. ~ If we are unable to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, we may be unable to refinance our existing indebtedness and may not be able to finance a fleet replacement and expansion program in the future. ~ The aging of our fleet and our acquisitions of secondhand vessels may result in increased operating costs in the future. ~ Our business may be affected due to lack of revenue source diversification. ~ Uncertainty regarding the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) due to changes in the reporting practices, the method in which LIBOR is determined or the use of alternative reference rates may adversely impact our indebtedness. ~ We are and will be exposed to floating interest rates and may selectively enter into interest rate derivative contracts, which can result in higher than market interest rates and charges against our income. ~ Because we generate substantially all of our revenues in U.S. dollars but incur a material portion of our expenses in other currencies, exchange rate fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. ~ Restrictive covenants in our existing and future financing agreements impose financial and other restrictions on us, and any breach of these covenants could result in the acceleration of our indebtedness and foreclosure on our vessels. ~ The declaration and payment of dividends will always be subject to the discretion of our board of directors and our board of directors may not declare dividends in the future. ~ We are a holding company and we depend on the ability of our subsidiaries to distribute funds to us in order to make dividend payments. ~ We depend on our Managers to operate our business and our business could be harmed if our Managers fail to perform their services satisfactorily. ~ Our chief executive officer also controls our Managers, which could create conflicts of interest between us and our Managers. ~ Agreements between us and other affiliated entities may be challenged as less favorable than agreements that we could obtain from unaffiliated third parties. ~ The provisions in our restrictive covenant arrangements with our chief executive officer and certain entities affiliated with him restricting their ability to compete with us may not be enforceable. ~ Our vessels may call on ports located in Iran or Syria, which are identified by the United States government as state sponsors of terrorism which could be viewed negatively by investors and adversely affect the trading price of our Common Stock and Preferred Shares. ~ We are incorporated in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which does not have a well-developed body of corporate law. ~ It may be difficult to serve us with legal process or enforce judgments against us, our directors or our management. ~ We may be subject to lawsuits and other enforcement actions for damages and penalties. ~ Our costs of operating as a public company are significant, and our management is required to devote substantial time to complying with public company regulations.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock and Preferred Shares
~ The Hajioannou family controls the outcome of matters on which our stockholders are entitled to vote and its interests may be different from yours. ~ Our status as a foreign private issuer within the rules promulgated under the Exchange Act exempts us from certain requirements of the SEC and NYSE. ~ Future sales of our Common Stock will dilute current shareholders and could cause the market price of our Common Stock to decline.
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~ The market price of our Common Stock may be adversely affected by sales of substantial amounts of our Common Stock pursuant to our at the market equity offering program (the “ATM Program”). ~ Our share repurchase programs may affect the market for our Common Stock and Preferred Shares. ~ There is no guarantee of a continuing public market for you to resell our common or preferred stock. ~ We have adopted a shareholders rights plan which could make it more difficult for a third-party to acquire us while the plan remains in effect. ~ Anti-takeover provisions could make it difficult for our stockholders to replace or remove our current board of directors. ~ We may not have sufficient cash from our operations to enable us to pay dividends on or to redeem our Preferred Shares following the payment of expenses and the establishment of any reserves. ~ The Preferred Shares represent perpetual equity interests and are subordinate to our debt and the liquidation preference amount on our Preferred Shares is fixed and you will have no right to receive any greater payment. ~ Holders of Preferred Shares have extremely limited voting rights. ~ Our ability to pay dividends on and to redeem our Preferred Shares is limited by the requirements of the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the laws of the Republic of Liberia and existing and future agreements.
Tax Risks
~ We may earn shipping income that will be subject to United States income tax, thereby reducing our cash available for distributions to you. ~ United States tax authorities could treat us as a “passive foreign investment company,” which could have adverse United States federal income tax consequences to United States holders.
Risks Inherent in Our Industry and Our Business
The international drybulk shipping industry is cyclical and volatile, having reached historical highs in 2008 and historical lows in 2016. Charter rates improved in 2019 and declined significantly in 2020, due in part to the impact of 2019- nCoV, which resulted in relatively lower charter rates. Charter rates have since improved during the start of 2021. Cyclicality and volatility may lead to reductions in the charter rates we are able to obtain, in vessel values and in our earnings, results of operations and available cash flow.
The drybulk shipping industry is cyclical with attendant volatility in charter rates, vessel values and profitability. The industry is cyclical in nature due to seasonal fluctuations and to the market adjustments in supply of and demand for drybulk vessels, and trade disruptions, such as those caused throughout 2020 and during the start of 2021 by the 2019-nCoV. We expect this cyclicality and volatility in market rates to continue in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the drybulk charter market will remain at levels recently experienced in the near future, and the market could experience a downturn in case of a new wave of 2019-nCoV or for other reasons. For example, in 2008, the Baltic Dry Index (the “BDI”), had reached an all-time high of 11,793, while in 2016, BDI had reached an all-time low of 290. During 2019, 2020 and 2021, the BDI, remained volatile, reaching an annual low of 595 in February 2019 and a high of 2,518 in September 2019 for 2019, an annual low of 393 in May 2020 and an annual high of 2,097 in October 2020 for 2020 and a low of 1,303 on February 10, 2021 and a high of 1,983 on March 15, 2021 thus far in 2021. In 2020, the BDI slumped as a result of the 2019-nCoV and in the start of 2021 has improved as a result of improved freight market conditions.
We charter some of our vessels in the spot charter market for periods up to three months and in the period charter market for longer periods. The spot market is highly competitive and volatile, while period time charter contracts of longer duration provide income at pre-determined rates over more extended periods of time. We are exposed to changes in spot charter market each time one of our vessels is completing a previously contracted charter, and we may not be able to secure period time charters at profitable levels. Furthermore, we may be unable to keep our vessels fully employed. Charter rates available in the market may be insufficient to enable our vessels to be operated profitably. A significant decrease in charter rates would adversely affect our profitability, cash flows, asset values and ability to pay dividends.
As of March 15, 2021, 21 of our 43 drybulk vessels were deployed or scheduled to be deployed on period time charters of more than three months remaining term. In addition, the Company has recently entered into memorandum of agreements for the sale of two of its older vessels and for the acquisition of three dry-bulk vessels, all of which Japanese-built, the first a 2011-built, Panamax class, second-hand vessel delivered to us in March 2021, the second, a Kamsarmax class, newbuild vessel, scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2022, and the third a Post-Panamax class, newbuild vessel scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of 2022. The two vessels on order do not currently have any contracted charter. As more vessels become available for employment, we may have difficulty entering into multi-year, fixed-rate time charters for our vessels, and as a result, our cash flows may be subject to instability in the long-term. We may be required to enter into variable rate charters or charters linked to the Baltic Panamax Index, as opposed to contracts based on fixed rates, which could result in a decrease in our cash flows and net income in periods when the market for drybulk shipping is depressed. If low charter rates in the drybulk market prevail during periods when we must replace our existing charters, it will have an adverse effect on our revenues, profitability, cash flows and our ability to comply with the financial covenants in our loan and credit facilities.
The factors affecting the supply and demand for drybulk vessels are outside of our control and are difficult to predict with confidence. As a result, the nature, timing, direction and degree of changes in industry conditions are also unpredictable.
Factors that influence demand for drybulk vessel capacity include:
~ demand for and production of drybulk products;
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~ supply of and demand for energy resources and commodities; ~ the 2019-nCoV and related factors; ~ global and regional economic and political conditions, including weather, natural or other disasters (including the 2019-nCoV), armed conflicts, terrorist activities and strikes; ~ environmental and other regulatory developments; ~ the location of regional and global exploration, production and manufacturing facilities and the distance drybulk cargoes are to be moved by sea; ~ changes in seaborne and other transportation patterns including shifts in the location of consuming regions for energy resources, commodities, and transportation demand for drybulk transportation; ~ international sanctions, embargoes, import and export restrictions, nationalizations and wars; ~ trade disputes or the imposition of tariffs on various commodities or finished goods tariffs on imports and exports that could affect the international trade; and ~ currency exchange rates.
Factors that influence the supply of drybulk vessel capacity include:
~ the size of the newbuilding orderbook; ~ availability of financing for new vessels; ~ the number of newbuild deliveries, including slippage in deliveries, which, among other factors, relates to the ability of shipyards to deliver newbuilds by contracted delivery dates and the ability of purchasers to finance such newbuilds; ~ the scrapping rate of older vessels, depending, amongst other things, on scrapping rates and international scrapping regulations; ~ the 2019-nCoV and related factors, including port lockdowns, higher crew cost and travel restrictions imposed by governments around the world; ~ port and canal congestion; ~ the speed of vessel operation which may be influenced by several reasons including energy cost and environmental regulations; ~ sanctions; ~ the number of vessels that are in or out of service, delayed in ports for several reasons, laid-up, dry docked awaiting repairs or otherwise not available for hire, including due to vessel casualties; and ~ changes in environmental and other regulations that may limit the useful lives of vessels or effectively cause reductions in the carrying capacity of vessels or early obsolescence of tonnage.
Factors influencing the supply of and demand for shipping capacity are outside of our control, and we may not be able to correctly assess the nature, timing and degree of changes in industry conditions. We anticipate that the future demand for our drybulk vessels and, in turn, drybulk charter rates, will be dependent, among other things, upon economic growth in the world’s economies, seasonal and regional changes in demand, changes in the capacity of the global drybulk vessel fleet and the sources and supply of drybulk cargo to be transported by sea. A decline in demand for commodities transported in drybulk vessels or an increase in supply of drybulk vessels could cause a significant decline in charter rates, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. There can be no assurance as to the sustainability of future economic growth, if any, due to unexpected demand shocks, such as the 2019-nCoV.
A negative change in global economic or regulatory conditions, especially in the Asian region, which includes countries like China, Japan and India, could reduce drybulk trade and demand, which could reduce charter rates and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We expect that a significant number of the port calls made by our vessels will involve the loading or discharging of raw materials in ports in the Asian region, particularly China, Japan and India. As a result, a negative change in economic or regulatory conditions in any Asian country, particularly China, Japan or, to some extent, India, can have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations, as well as our future prospects, by reducing demand and, as a result, charter rates and affecting our ability to charter our vessels. If economic growth declines in China, Japan, India and other countries in the Asian region, or if the regulatory environment in these countries changes adversely for our industry, we may face decreases in such drybulk trade and demand. Moreover, a slowdown in the United States economy or the economies of countries within the European Union (the “E.U.”) will likely adversely affect economic growth in China, Japan, India and other countries in the Asian region. Such an economic downturn in any of these countries could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
An oversupply of drybulk vessel capacity may lead to reductions in charter rates and results of operations.
The market supply of drybulk vessels has been increasing in terms of dwt, and the number of drybulk vessels on order as of December 31, 2020 was approximately 5.6% for Panamax to Post-Panamax class vessels and 6.3% for Capesize class vessels, as compared to the then-existing global drybulk fleet in terms of dwt, with the majority of new deliveries expected during 2021. As a result, the drybulk fleet continues to grow. In addition, during periods when there are high expectations for charter market recovery, a large number of orders may be placed in shipyards, resulting in a further increase of newbuild orders and accordingly in the size of the global drybulk fleet. An oversupply of drybulk vessel capacity will likely result in a reduction of charter hire rates. We will be exposed to changes in charter rates with respect to our existing fleet and our remaining newbuild, depending on the ultimate growth of the global drybulk fleet. If we cannot enter into period time charters on acceptable terms, we may have to secure charters in the spot market, where charter rates are more volatile and revenues are, therefore, less predictable, or we may
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not be able to charter our vessels at all. In our current fleet, as of March 15, 2021, 23 vessels will be available for employment in the first half of 2021. A material increase in the net supply of drybulk vessel capacity without corresponding growth in drybulk vessel demand could have a material adverse effect on our fleet utilization and our charter rates generally, and could, accordingly, materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The market value of drybulk vessels is highly volatile, being related to charter market conditions, aging and environmental regulations. The market values of our vessels may significantly decrease which could cause us to breach covenants in our credit and loan facilities, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our credit and loan facilities, which are secured by mortgages on our vessels, require us to comply with collateral coverage ratios and satisfy certain financial and other covenants, including those that are affected by the market value of our vessels. The market values of drybulk vessels have generally experienced significant volatility within a short period of time. The market prices for second-hand and newbuild drybulk vessels significantly declined in 2020 due to depressed market conditions as a result of 2019-nCoV, and have recovered since then during the first months of 2021. The market prices for second-hand and newbuild drybulk vessels experienced a small increase in 2018 and 2019 following a significant increase in 2017 compared to the very low levels experienced in 2016 when vessel values were reduced in a short period of time due to depressed market conditions. The market value of our vessels fluctuates depending on a number of factors, including:
~ general economic and market conditions affecting the shipping industry; ~ prevailing level of charter rates; ~ supply of and demand for vessels; ~ general vessel’s condition and vessel’s specification; ~ vessel’s environmental performance, (GHG rating, BWTS installation, Scrubbers installation, etc.), ~ distressed asset sales, including newbuild contract sales during weak charter market conditions; ~ lack of financing and limitations imposed by financial covenants in our credit and loan facilities; ~ competition from other shipping companies and other modes of transportation; ~ configurations, types, sizes and ages of vessels; ~ changes in governmental, environmental or other regulations that may limit the useful life of vessels; and ~ technological advances.
We were in compliance with our covenants in our credit and loan facilities in effect as of December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2020. If the market value of our vessels, or our newbuilds upon delivery to us, decline, we may breach some of the covenants contained in our credit and loan facilities. If we do breach such covenants and we are unable to remedy or our lenders refuse to waive the relevant breach, our lenders could accelerate our indebtedness and foreclose on the vessels in our fleet securing those loan and credit facilities. As a result of cross-default provisions contained in our loan and credit facility agreements, this could in turn lead to additional defaults under our loan agreements and the consequent acceleration of the indebtedness under those agreements and the commencement of similar foreclosure proceedings by other lenders. If our indebtedness was accelerated in full or in part, it would be difficult for us to refinance our debt or obtain additional financing on favorable terms or at all and we could lose our vessels if our lenders foreclose their liens, which would adversely affect our ability to continue our business.
A significant decrease of the market values of our vessels could cause us to incur an impairment loss and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We review for impairment our vessels held and used whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the vessels may not be recoverable. Such indicators include declines in the fair market value of vessels, decreases in market charter rates, vessel sale and purchase considerations, fleet utilization, environmental and other regulatory changes in the drybulk shipping industry or changes in business plans or overall market conditions that may adversely affect cash flows. We may be required to record an impairment charge with respect to our vessels and any such impairment charge resulting from a decline in the market value of our vessels or a decrease in charter rates may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our financial results may be similarly affected in the future if we record an impairment charge or sell vessels at a loss before we record an impairment adjustment. Conversely, if vessel values are elevated at a time when we wish to acquire additional vessels, the cost of such acquisitions may increase and this could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flow and financial condition.
See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—A. Operating Results—Critical Accounting Policies—Impairment of Vessels” for more information.
Technological developments could reduce our earnings and the value of our vessels.
Determining factors for the useful life of the vessels in our fleet are efficiency, operational flexibility and technological developments. Efficiency includes speed, fuel economy, which is also related to GHG emissions, and the ability to load and discharge cargo quickly. Flexibility includes the ability to enter harbors, utilize related docking facilities and pass through canals and straits. The duration of a vessel’s useful life is related to its original design and construction, its maintenance and the impact of the stress of operations. If new vessels are built that are more efficient or more flexible or have longer useful lives than our vessels, competition from these more technologically advanced vessels could adversely affect the amount of charter hire payments we receive for our vessels, and the resale value of our vessels could significantly decrease. As a result, our earnings and financial condition could be adversely affected.
The international drybulk shipping industry is highly competitive, and we may not be able to compete successfully for
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charters with new entrants or established companies with greater resources.
We employ our vessels in a highly competitive market that is capital intensive and highly fragmented. Competition arises primarily from other vessel owners, some of whom have substantially greater resources than we do. Competition for the transportation of drybulk cargo by sea is intense and depends on price, customer relationships, operating expertise, professional reputation and size, age, location and condition of the vessel. Due in part to the highly fragmented market, additional competitors with greater resources could enter the drybulk shipping industry and operate larger fleets through consolidations or acquisitions and may be able to offer lower charter rates than we are able to offer, which could have a material adverse effect on our fleet utilization and, accordingly, our results of operations.
Changes in labor laws and regulations, collective bargaining negotiations and labor disputes could increase our crew costs and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows, financial condition and ability to pay dividends.
Crew costs are a significant expense for us under our charters. There is a limited supply of well-qualified crew. We bear crewing costs under our charters. Increases in crew costs may adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, labor disputes or unrest, including work stoppages, strikes and/or work disruptions or increases imposed by collective bargaining agreements covering the majority of our officers on board our vessels could result in higher personnel costs and significantly affect our financial performance.
We are subject to regulations and liability under environmental laws that require significant expenditures, which can affect the ability and competitiveness of our vessels to trade, our results of operations and financial condition.
Our business and the operation of our vessels are regulated under international conventions, national, state and local laws and regulations in force in the jurisdictions in which our vessels operate, as well as in the country or countries of their registration, in order to protect against potential environmental impacts. Regulations of vessels, particularly environmental regulations have become more stringent and it is expected to be
Facts — not fear — will stop the pandemic
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The media relish negative news. “If it bleeds it leads” still holds, and perhaps it’s never been truer than in the COVID-19 era. Every day the news highlights the spread of the virus and tells the sad stories of some of its victims.
And yet, much of the media does not pay sufficient attention to the good news regarding improved treatments and survival of patients with the coronavirus. In contrast with the international media, the American press has been unrelentingly negative in its COVID coverage, even when there is good news to tell. That negativity is part of what fuels a culture of fear that affects local, state and federal politicians and the decisions they make.
But there is a lot of good news to tell. The case fatality rate from the virus has dropped sharply since March. The infection survival rate is 99.95 percent for people under 70 and 95 percent for people over 70. Hospitals are much better equipped to handle patients, with improved ventilator protocols, improved management of outpatients and new therapeutic strategies to provide relief and recoveries. Moreover, thanks to multiple ongoing clinical trials around the world, there may soon be a safe and effective vaccine.
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By contrast with their focus on COVID deaths, the media have paid scant attention to the enormous medical and psychological harms from the lockdowns in use to slow the pandemic. Despite the enormous collateral damage lockdowns have caused, England, France, Germany, Spain and other European countries are all intensifying their lockdowns once again.
By lockdowns, we mean the all-too-familiar shuttered schools and universities, closed playgrounds and parks, silent churches and bankrupt stores and businesses that have become emblematic of American civic life these past months. The relative dearth of reporting on the harms caused by lockdowns is odd, since lives lost from lockdown are no less important than lives lost from COVID infection. But they’ve received much less media attention.
The harms from lockdown have been catastrophic. Consider the psychological harm. Reader, since you’re reading this in lockdown, you can undoubtedly relate to the isolation and loneliness that these policies can cause by shutting down typical channels for social interaction. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that one in four young adults had seriously considered suicide. Opioid and other drug related deaths are on a sharp and unsurprising upswing.
The burden of these policies falls disproportionately on some of the most vulnerable. For example, isolation led to a 20 percent increase in dementia-related deaths among our elderly population. Moreover, retrospective analysis of the lockdown in the United States shows that patients skipped cancer screenings, childhood immunizations, diabetes management visits and even treatment for heart attacks.
Internationally, the lockdowns have placed 130 million people on the brink of starvation, 80 million children at risk for diphtheria, measles and polio, and 1.8 million patients at risk of death from tuberculosis. The lockdowns in developed countries have devastated the poor in poor countries. The World Economic Forum estimates that the lockdowns will cause an additional 150 million people to fall into extreme poverty, 125 times as many people as have died from COVID.
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Though there has been some coverage of lockdown harms, the media have not paid the same attention to it as they have to COVID deaths. If there is a COVID-death tracker, there should be side-by-side with it a lockdown-death tracker.
The lack of balanced media attention towards the good news about the virus and the costs of lockdowns comes with its own cost. Without a balanced approach to COVID news, the public cannot make informed choices about COVID policy, such as school closures. Even a diligent citizen cannot make an informed judgment about the wisdom of continuing lockdowns if only their benefits are emphasized and their costs downplayed. The media have an obligation to show both.
Finally, the neglect of the good COVID news breeds panic and fear, which is never a good public health strategy. The public should know that the pandemic will not be here forever. While these are challenging times – and, for many families, life-changing times – like every other pandemic in human history, the COVID-19 pandemic will end. With wise and informed policy choices, we can reduce its ultimate toll of death and human misery.
Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD is a professor of medicine at Stanford University and a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economics Research. Prof. Bhattacharya’s research work focuses on the epidemiology of COVID-19 and on effects of COVID-19 lockdown policy. He is the co-author of the Great Barrington declaration.
Christos A. Makridis, PhD is an assistant research professor at Arizona State University, a non-resident fellow at Baylor University and a senior adviser at Gallup. Christos previously served on the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @camakridis.
2020 Latest: International observers see no fraud in US vote
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):
9 p.m.
International observers from the Organization of American States say they saw no instances of fraud or voting irregularities in the U.S. presidential election.
The delegation included 28 experts and observers from 13 countries who observed the election process in in Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and the District of Columbia. COVID-19 prevented a broader coalition of experts.
The OAS says the Election Day was peaceful, although there were efforts to intimate poll workers as the votes were counted, and says the country’s mail-in ballots were a secure system.
The report says the OAS supports “the right of all contesting parties in an election, to seek redress before the competent legal authorities when they believe they have been wronged.”
“It is critical however, that candidates act responsibly by presenting and arguing legitimate claims before the courts, not unsubstantiated or harmful speculation in the public media,” the OAS says.
7:15 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden is planning to deliver a speech defending the Obama administration’s signature health care law amid a case before the Supreme Court that could overturn it.
Biden will speak on the Affordable Care Act from Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday. He campaigned for months on the law, arguing that President Donald Trump and top Republicans opposed it and therefore wanted to wipe out its mandated health insurance coverage for people with preexisting conditions even though they had no alternative to replace it.
A lawsuit challenging the law is being considered by the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority after Trump’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett.
Biden and other top Democrats tried to make last week’s election a referendum on health care, which helped the party have a strong midterm election in 2018. But Democrats failed to win control of the Senate and lost House seats this cycle, despite Biden’s win.
Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president and has promised to build on the law to allow more people to opt into government-sponsored coverage while others can keep their current, employer-based systems.
5:10 p.m.
Georgia’s secretary of state is firing back at the state’s two U.S. senators for calling on him to resign over the handling of the election, which has President-elect Joe Biden leading President Donald Trump in the state.
Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue took the extraordinary step Monday of calling for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to step down.
Raffensperger responded, “Let me start by saying that is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.”
He says while he understands their frustration with the outcome of the election — which also saw Loeffler and Perdue forced into runoffs — the way the election was handled was a success.
Raffensperger says, “As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that.”
The Associated Press hasn’t yet called a winner in Georgia’s presidential election. The state hasn’t gone to a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992.
4:30 p.m.
Some Republicans are renewing their attacks on President-elect Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia, with Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler taking the extraordinary step of calling for the resignation of the Republican secretary of state.
Republicans laid out a strategy to investigate but still presented no evidence of large-scale voter fraud in the balloting, saying Monday that they were still looking into ways to overturn Biden’s lead of more than 10,000 votes in Georgia.
Georgia is one front in a nationwide scramble by Trump forces to question his national defeat. The Associated Press has not yet called the race for Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office is defending the conduct of the elections, saying that while there may be scattered illegal votes, officials are very confident in the overall outcome.
Loeffler and Perdue, who face a pair of Jan. 5 runoffs against Democrats that will determine control of the Senate, blamed Raffensperger for “mismanagement and lack of transparency.”
2:20 p.m.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is congratulating President-elect Joe Biden on an “apparent victory” but adding that President Donald Trump should be afforded the chance to challenge the results.
Collins won reelection last week over Democrat Sara Gideon. She asked voters who have questions about the results of the presidential election to be patient.
“First, I would offer my congratulations to President-elect Biden on his apparent victory – he loves this country, and I wish him every success,” Collins said in a statement. “Presidential transitions are important, and the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect should be given every opportunity to ensure that they are ready to govern on January 20th.”
Collins added that Trump’s desire to challenge the results should be handled in accordance with existing laws. Trump has so far refused to concede to Biden.
She says, “I understand that the president and others have questions about the results in certain states. There is a process in place to challenge those results and, consistent with that process, the president should be afforded the opportunity to do so.”
1:55 p.m.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says it would like to see a major infrastructure bill as the first order of business for a Biden-Harris administration and a new Congress in 2021.
The powerful business lobby group had teamed up with the AFL-CIO and other groups during Donald Trump’s presidency to push for significant new investments in roads, bridges and broadband but could not get legislation over the finish line. How to pay for such investment remains a huge stumbling block.
Neil Bradley, an executive vice president at the business group, says the chamber will continue to push the Trump administration and Congress to get an economic relief bill passed before the end of the year to help businesses survive during the coronavirus pandemic.
He says the economic recovery is “uneven across industries and across communities, and we have to focus on those who will be the last to recover from this pandemic induced recession.”
1:50 p.m.
The highest-ranking Black member of Congress is urging President Donald Trump to stop challenging the results of the 2020 general election and begin finding ways to work with the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden.
Clyburn said Monday during a media availability that Trump appears to be “hell-bent on destroying the fabric that’s been holding” the country together by alleging unsubstantiated fraud in the vote counting.
Applauding the Biden transition team’s work in setting up a coronavirus task force, Clyburn said he has “absolutely no interest” in a post of his own in the administration. But he did suggest that Jaime Harrison, who recently lost to Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, might be a good pick.
Harrison told The Associated Press on Monday that he would be willing to serve. He says, “If the president-elect asks you to serve, then you serve.” He says he would leave it up to the Biden team to determine what post would be a good fit.
1:45 p.m.
Political appointees who are looking for job opportunities after President Donald Trump’s election defeat to President-elect Joe Biden should think twice.
A senior administration official says presidential personnel director John McEntee, the president’s former personal aide, has sent word to departments that they should terminate any political appointees seeking new work while Trump has refused to accept the electoral results.
Another official said the warning was not likely to result in any firings but rather meant to reinforce to staff that they should not act counter to Trump while he refuses to concede.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Trump’s term ends at noon on Jan. 20. Several thousand political appointees across the government will see their jobs end by that date.
Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election on Saturday.
— By AP writer Zeke Miller
1:35 p.m.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is congratulating President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris while reaffirming the U.S.-U.N. partnership as “an essential pillar of the international cooperation needed to address the dramatic challenges facing the world today.”
The message, delivered Monday by U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, also congratulated the American people “for a vibrant exercise of democracy in their country’s elections last week.”
Dujarric said in response to a question on Harris’ historic victory as the first woman to be elected vice president that the secretary-general is always pleased and welcomes a woman getting “to break a new ceiling.”
General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir tweeted his warmest congratulations to Biden, citing his “long history” of supporting the United Nations, and to Harris for her historic election, which he called “a milestone for gender equality.”
1 p.m.
President Donald Trump has fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, a stunning move on the heels of Trump’s failed reelection bid.
Presidents who win reelection often replace Cabinet members, including the secretary of defense, but losing presidents have kept their Pentagon chiefs in place until Inauguration Day to preserve stability in the name of national security.
Trump announced the news in a tweet, saying that “effective immediately” Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, will serve as acting secretary, sidestepping the department’s No.2-ranking official, Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist.
“Chris will do a GREAT job!” Trump tweeted. “Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”
12:50 p.m.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has tested positive for the coronavirus. Carson is the first member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet known to have tested positive.
The department’s deputy chief of staff, Coalter Baker, said Monday that Carson is “in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly speed his recovery.”
The 69-year-old Carson is among several top Trump administration officials who attended last week’s election night party at the White House. Carson has been a steadfast surrogate for the Republican president, traveling to many of the swing states before Election Day to discuss the administration’s priorities and achievements. Carson attended several events Trump held to appeal to African American voters.
Before joining the Trump administration, Carson had sought the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2016. He served for nearly 30 years as director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
12:15 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden is imploring Americans to “wear a mask” to help fight the spread of the coronavirus — “no matter who you voted for.”
He says, “We are Americans, and our country is under threat.”
The Democrat said Monday wearing masks could slow the death toll in the COVID-19 pandemic, which he noted could climb by 200,000 before a vaccine is widely available.
Biden said, “Please, I implore you, wear a mask.” He noted masks could save the lives of older people, children and teachers and added: “It could even save your own life.”
Biden notes that he doesn’t take office until Jan. 20 but is assuming a public leadership role in the fight against the pandemic ahead of being sworn in.
12:05 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden is warning the United States is “still facing a very dark winter” as he unveils plans for addressing COVID-19 pandemic.
Even as hopes of a vaccine lifted stocks, Biden said Monday another 200,000 lives could be lost before it is widely available. Biden implores Americans to “wear a mask.”
Biden says he would be guided by science in laying out the framework of a pandemic response, starting with members of a task force to prepare for his administration’s transition to overseeing it.
11:20 a.m.
One week after Election Day, Vice President Mike Pence appears ready to take some time off.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Pence is scheduled to travel to Sanibel, Florida, Tuesday through Saturday. Pence has vacationed on the island along Florida’s Gulf Coast several times previously. Pence’s office didn’t immediately comment on the trip on Monday.
The trip comes as President Donald Trump has pledged to continue trying to contest the outcome of the election and as President-elect Joe Biden is ramping up his transition efforts.
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are being briefed virtually on the coronavirus pandemic by a task force of experts their transition team announced Monday.
11:10 a.m.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are being briefed virtually on the coronavirus pandemic by a task force of experts their transition team announced only hours earlier.
The Democratic president-elect and vice president-elect sat at separate, individual socially distanced tables and took notes as the members introduced themselves on Monday.
Biden is also planning to give a speech on his planned response to the pandemic. Then Biden and Harris will hold hours of internal meetings about transitioning to the White House in January.
The task force briefing was at the Queen, a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, where Biden’s campaign built a studio and other communications infrastructure and has spent months organizing virtual meetings and speeches.
The first to speak during the briefing was former Food Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler. He is co-chairing the task force with former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University associate professor and associate dean whose research focuses on promoting health care equality for marginalized populations.
Also part of the group is Rick Bright, a whistleblower who was demoted after criticizing the Trump administration’s pandemic response. Bright had been head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
Journalists could watch only about two minutes of the proceedings and heard only the participants introducing themselves.
7:25 a.m.
President-elect Joe Biden has announced the members of his coronavirus task force, which will put together a blueprint for fighting the pandemic.
The co-chairs are former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, former Food Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University professor and researcher.
Notable among the task force members is Rick Bright, a vaccine expert and former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Bright filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was reassigned to a lesser job because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug pushed by President Donald Trump as a COVID-19 treatment.
Other members include Luciana Borio, a biodefense specialist; Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and bioethics chair at the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Atul Gawande, a Clinton administration health advisor and surgery expert; Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert who has studied HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; Dr. Julie Morita, a pediatric and immunization specialist; Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and epidemiologist; Loyce Pace, a global health specialist; Dr. Robert Rodriguez, an emergency medicine expert who has researched mental health of COVID-19 responders; and Dr. Eric Goosby, an infectious disease expert who has worked in AIDS/HIV.
6:40 p.m.
A bipartisan group from the last three White Houses is urging the Trump administration to move forward “to immediately begin the post-election transition process.”
The call from the Center for Presidential Transition advisory board comes as the General Services Administration has yet to formally recognize Democrat Joe Biden as the president-elect. That’s a necessary move to free up money for the transition and clear the way for Biden’s team to begin putting in place the transition process at agencies.
“This was a hard-fought campaign, but history is replete with examples of presidents who emerged from such campaigns to graciously assist their successors,” members of the advisory board said in a statement.
The statement was signed by Bush White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and Health and Human Services secretary Michael Leavitt as well as Bill Clinton-era chief of staff Thomas “Mack” McLarty and Obama Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.
12:30 p.m.
Former President George W. Bush says the American people “can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair, its integrity will be upheld, and its outcome is clear.”
He says in a statement that “no matter how you voted, your vote counted.” And Bush says President Donald Trump has the right to request recounts and pursue legal challenges, with any unresolved issues to be “properly adjudicated.”
Bush says now is the time when “we must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors, and for our nation and its future.”
Bush says he’s spoken with Joe Biden and thanked the president-elect for what Bush says was “the patriotic message” in Biden’s national address on Saturday night after being declared the election winner.
Bush says in a statement that while he and Biden have political differences, the former president says he knows Biden “to be good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country.”
11:30 a.m.
Joe Biden began his first full day as president-elect the same way he does nearly every Sunday, heading to church near his home.
Biden entered St. Joseph on the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware, shortly after the start of 10:30 a.m. Mass. He typically arrives a bit late and leaves a few minutes early so the presence of Secret Service agents doesn’t bother other attendees.
It felt like any other Sunday, except for a huge swarm of media camped near the church entrance — having anticipated Biden’s arrival.
Biden entered with his daughter, Ashley, and his grandson, Hunter, the son of the president-elect’s late son, Beau, a former Delaware attorney general.
Biden has no other public events on his schedule but is expected to swiftly move to begin appointing key members of his team for the transition to the White House, including a chief of staff.
11 a.m.
Donald Trump is spending his first day as a lame duck president golfing.
Trump arrived at his Virginia golf club just before 10 a.m. on Sunday for the second day in a row. He was welcomed by several protesters, including one who held a sign that read, “Orange Crushed.”
Trump was also on the golf course Saturday when The Associated Press and other news outlets called the race for his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, because he had won enough votes to deny Trump a second term.
Trump has yet to concede the race and is continuing to baselessly dispute the results even though there is no evidence of widespread fraud.
10:25 a.m.
President-elect Joe Biden is planning to name former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler as co-chairs of the coronavirus working group he’s launching this week.
Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield announced the two public health experts would lead the task force during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Murthy and Kessler have been part of a group of experts and doctors that have briefed Biden on the pandemic for months throughout the campaign.
Murthy served as surgeon general during President Barack Obama’s second term, and Kessler was FDA commissioner in the 1990s and now serves as board chair at the Centers for Science in the Public Interest.
Biden said during his victory speech Saturday night that he’d unveil the full COVID-19 task force on Monday. They’ll be tasked with taking the proposals he’s released during the campaign for dealing with the pandemic — which include investments in personal protective equipment and loans for small businesses as well as plans to implement more standardized public health guidelines — and turning them into a “blueprint” that he’ll enact when inaugurated president next January.
Biden made President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic a central focus of his campaign against the Republican and pledged if elected to make combating the pandemic his top priority.
10:15 a.m.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says that President Donald Trump is within his rights to pursue recounts and legal challenges in close races that decided last week’s election but urged Trump to dial back his rhetoric.
Romney told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he thought it was unlikely that a recount or legal challenges will change the outcome and suggested Trump “be careful in the choice of words.”
The Republican senator, who has been a frequent critic of Trump’s, says when a president says an “election was ‘corrupt’ or ‘stolen’ or ‘rigged,’ that that’s unfortunately rhetoric that gets picked up by authoritarians around the world.”
Romney, who was the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, added that Trump’s language also “discourages confidence in our democratic process here at home.”
10 a.m.
The highest-ranking Black member of Congress says President Donald Trump should concede the presidency to President-elect Joe Biden, although he says it’s more crucial what the rest of the Republican Party does in the wake of the 2020 election.
U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn of South Carolina told CNN on Sunday that the GOP “has a responsibility here” and that he’s watching to see “whether or not the Republican Party will step up and help us preserve the integrity of this democracy.”
Clyburn also said he sees the United States as “teetering” following Trump’s term, advising that “we had better get a hold of ourselves and this country and stop catering to whims of one person.”
Clyburn also talked about his endorsement of Biden ahead of South Carolina’s early primary, a nod that helped boost Biden to win that contest, gain momentum and ultimately clinch the nomination. Saying the field was full of good candidates, Clyburn said he “came to the conclusion that Joe Biden was our best bet.”
9 a.m.
President-elect Joe Biden will launch an “agency review teams” this coming week. It’s the group of transition staffers that have access to key agencies in the current administration to smooth the transfer of power.
The teams will collect and review information such as budgetary and staffing decisions, pending regulations and other work in progress from current staff at the federal departments.
The teams are meant to lay much of the groundwork so that the thousands of new staffers and appointees who will take over in January will have a road map and guidelines for how to continue the federal government’s work without pause, and how to shift the departments toward Biden’s priorities.
Biden’s campaign launched a transition team in May, and they’ve been working alongside designated staffers in President Donald Trump’s administration on transition planning for months. But the agency review process begins in earnest after a new president is elected. Biden has just over 10 weeks to prepare before he is inaugurated.
On Monday, he plans to announce a team of scientists and experts that will work to craft a coronavirus response plan that can be enacted when he takes office.
Biden’s transition team has also come out with a transition-focused website — BuildBackBetter.com — and is launching transition-focused social media accounts under the username “Transition46.”
10:40 p.m.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit Saturday in Arizona that seeks the manual inspection of potentially thousands of in-person Election Day ballots in metro Phoenix that they allege were mishandled by poll workers and resulted in some ballot selections to be disregarded.
The legal challenge against Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs centers on instances in which people are believed to have voted for more candidates than permitted.
When tabulators detect such an “overvote,” poll workers should give voters a choice to fix the problem, but the workers instead either pressed or told voters to press a button on the machine to override the error, leaving the devices to disregard the problematic ballot selections, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed hours after the dismissal of another Arizona election lawsuit that contested the use of Sharpie markers in completing Election Day ballots in Maricopa County. Even though election officials have said voting with a Sharpie would not invalidate a ballot, many social media users in the controversy known as #Sharpiegate have falsely claimed their ballots had been invalidated because they were told to use the markers.
Hobbs spokeswoman Sophia Solis said the secretary of state’s office is still reviewing the lawsuit, but added that the latest lawsuit “is seemingly a repackaged ‘Sharpiegate’ lawsuit.”
While the Trump campaign’s lawsuit doesn’t mention Sharpies, it focuses on how ink splotches on a ballot are handled by electronic tabulators and raises the possibility of overvotes.
9:10 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris brought their entire families on-stage with them to close out their victory party on Saturday night.
After delivering speeches outside of the Chase Center in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, the two were joined by their families to watch as red white and blue fireworks exploded in the sky. A collection of drones spelling out “USA” and outlining Biden’s logo flashed in the sky, prompting the Democrat to gaze at the sky with his mouth wide in delight. Biden’s wife Jill, seven grandkids, his son Hunter and daughter Ashley all gathered around him as the family enjoyed the display.
Harris, meanwhile, was joined by her sister Maya, her niece Meena and her husband, Doug Emhoff, as well as her two stepchildren. Harris wrapped her arms around a younger grand-niece as they watched the celebration, with more than 1,000 supporters dancing and waving American flags and Biden campaign signs. It was a celebratory ending to a day that was otherwise largely spent by the two Democrats waiting and watching as final returns rolled in.
9:05 p.m.
Joe Biden will unveil a group of scientists and experts to help him craft a plan to tackle the coronavirus pandemic on Monday.
Biden announced his plans to launch the COVID-19 task force during remarks at his victory party Saturday night. He said those advisers would help him take the proposals he’s released during the campaign for dealing with the pandemic — which include investments in personal protective equipment and loans for small businesses as well as plans to implement more standardized public health guidelines — and turn those proposals into a “blueprint” that he’ll enact when inaugurated president next January.
Biden said the plan would be “built on bedrock science” and “constructed out of compassion, empathy and concern.” Biden made President Donald Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic a central focus of his campaign and pledged that his top priority as president would be managing the virus.
Biden said that “our work begins with getting COVID under control” , adding Americans “cannot repair the economy, restore our economy or relish life’s most precious moments” without doing so.
9 p.m.
In his first speech after securing the White House, President-elect Joe Biden is making an appeal to supporters of President Donald Trump.
Biden said Saturday night in Wilmington, Delaware, that “this is the time to heal in America” and pledged to be a president to represent even those who didn’t support him.
Noting"I’ve lost a couple times myself," Biden said, “now, let’s give each other a chance.”
Trump has not conceded the race to Biden, pursuing legal challenges over ballot counts in several states.
Biden said “it’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again,” saying of his political opponents, “they are not our enemies. They are Americans.”
8:55 p.m.
Joe Biden is pledging to be a president “who seeks not to divide but to unify.”
Biden is delivering his first remarks as president-elect at a victory party in Wilmington, after he was officially declared the winner of the presidential election on Saturday. Biden jogged onto the stage wearing a black suit, black mask and light blue tie. He pointed and waved at the screaming crowd gathered to hear him speak.
Echoing his campaign stump speech, Biden promised to be a president who “doesn’t see red states or blue states, only sees the United States,” and said he would work “with all my heart” to win the confidence of all Americans.
Biden touted the fact that he’s won more votes than any presidential ticket in history, calling his win “a convincing victory, a victory for the people.” He also said he was “surprised” by seeing the celebrations and an “outpouring of joy” in the wake of his win nationwide.
Biden said that “once again, America’s bent the arc of the moral universe more toward justice.”
8:50 p.m.
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris is paying tribute to Black women who “so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy.”
Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, is the first woman to be elected to the vice presidency.
Harris noted her ascension to the role comes 100 years after the 19th Amendment was ratified and 55 years after the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which expanded who could participate in American democracy.
She praised Joe Biden for having “the audacity to break one of the most substantial barriers that exist in our country” by selecting a woman as his running mate.
“Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a county of possibilities,” Harris said.
The remarks were some of the most direct she has delivered about her history-making role as Biden’s running mate.
8:45 p.m.
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris says voters have “ushered in a new day for America.”
Harris is speaking Saturday in her first address to the nation since she and Joe Biden were declared the winners of the presidential election.
Harris says voters chose hope, unity, decency, science and truth in choosing she and Biden over President Donald Trump.
Harris, the first woman to be elected vice president, wore a white pantsuit in tribute to women’s suffrage. She also opened her remarks with a tribute to the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis, a Civil Rights icon, who said democracy is not a state but an act. Harris will also be the first Black woman to serve as vice president.
8:30 p.m.
Hundreds of cars filled the parking lot outside the Wilmington convention center in Delaware for a drive-in rally to celebrate Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race.
With temperatures mild Saturday night, more than 1,000 people sat on the roofs of their cars or milled around in small groups nearby, many cheering and waving American flags or Biden campaign signs. The smell of grilling meat hung in the air not unlike a football tailgate, and some of the attendees danced and sang, sweating through facemasks that appeared to be nearly universally worn.
The campaign set up cranes with towering American flags, an American-flag lined stage and projected a 10-story tall Biden-Harris logo over a digital American flag on the side of a hotel beside the convention center. Blue and red lights illuminated state flags perched on the roof of another nearby building.
Organizers first erected the stage on Tuesday night, expecting to hold a Biden Election Night party. As vote counting continued and no winner was declared, the campaign kept the stage intact and the parking lot remained surrounded by high security fences with police controlling all access in and out.
8:15 p.m.
“The President will accept the results of a free and fair election.”
That’s the message from a White House official Saturday, even as President Donald Trump is refusing to concede after losing to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump has insisted he will contest the results and his campaign has launched a flurry of legal action in a handful of states trying to overturn Biden victories.
But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the Trump administration is following all statutory requirements that govern government transitions.
6:20 p.m.
The #Sharpiegate controversy may be over now that the attorneys who challenged the use of the markers to complete Election Day ballots in metro Phoenix told a court they’re dismissing their legal challenge.
Roopali Desai, an attorney for Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, said she received notice Saturday from the court that the lawyers who filed the lawsuit are now ending the case.
A copy of the dismissal notice provided to The Associated Press doesn’t specify a reason for dismissing the case, and Alexander Kolodin, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, declined a request for comment.
Arizona election officials have said voting with a Sharpie would not invalidate their ballot. But many social media users have falsely claimed their ballots had been invalidated because they were told to use the markers to fill out their ballots.
The lawsuit alleged tabulation equipment was unable to record a voter’s ballot on Tuesday because she completed it with a Sharpie. One of the remedies sought by the lawsuit was for voters who used Sharpies to be present to watch workers count ballots, a proposition that the judge expressed skepticism about.
Election officials say votes wouldn’t be canceled if ink from a Sharpie bleeds through the back side of ballots and that there is a process that would keep the ballots from being canceled out if problems arise.
6:15 p.m,
News of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory on Saturday set off celebrations and protests as jubilant supporters and frustrated opponents took to the streets in California’s major cities. Supporters of President Donald Trump rallied outside the state Capitol in Sacramento and marched in Beverly Hills demanding a recount of votes. Meanwhile, people threw block parties in Oakland as they expressed hometown pride in Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her history-making turn as the first Black woman elected to the second-highest office in the United States. Similar scenes played out in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities where people danced on the street and honked their car horns.
3:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump has returned to the White House and a very different Washington, D.C., after losing his reelection bid.
Trump’s motorcade returned from his golf club in Virginia via roads largely cleared of other cars and people Saturday afternoon.
But as he approached the White House, he was welcomed home with boos and raised middle fingers. Chants of “Loser, loser, loser” and profanities were also heard as his motorcade drove by.
Trump has so far refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden and is promising legal challenges. He is the first president to lose reelection since George H.W. Bush in 1992.
3:05 p.m.
Joe Biden has spoken to Barack Obama, reaching out to the former president with one of his first calls as president-elect.
Biden’s campaign confirmed the phone call Saturday with Obama, whom Biden served under as vice president for eight years, but offered few details on what was said.
Meanwhile, Michelle Obama took to Twitter to say that she was “beyond thrilled” that Biden had been elected president and that his running mate, Kamala Harris, is “our first Black and Indian-American woman” as vice president.
In a series of tweets, the former first lady said the pair would “restore some dignity, competence, and heart at the White House.”
But Michelle Obama also warned supporters that voting in elections for candidates who win “isn’t a magic wand.”
“Let’s remember that tens of millions of people voted for the status quo, even when it meant supporting lies, hate, chaos and division,” she tweeted, in a swipe at President Donald Trump. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to reach out to these folks in the years ahead and connect with them on what unites us.”
2:55 p.m.
Republicans on Capitol Hill are giving President Donald Trump and his campaign space to consider all its legal options after his election defeat by President-elect Joe Biden. That’s according to one Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
It’s a precarious balance for Trump’s allies as they try to be supportive of the president but face the reality of the vote count. Trump is so far refusing to concede.
On Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had not yet made any public statements.
Scott Jennings, a Republican strategist in Kentucky allied with McConnell, said, “I’m not sure his position would have changed from yesterday – count all the votes, adjudicate all the claims.”
Jennings added, ““My sense is there won’t be any tolerance for beyond what the law allows. There will be tolerance for what the law allows.”
It was a view being echoed by several other Republicans neither supporting nor rejecting the outcome. Said retiring GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who is close with McConnell: “After counting every valid vote and allowing courts to resolve disputes, it is important to respect and promptly accept the result.”
2:35 p.m.
Several hundred people have gathered outside President Donald Trump’s Virginia golf club after his election loss to President-elect Joe Biden.
The crowd includes dozens of Biden supporters celebrating his win, singing, “Hey hey hey, goodbye” and chanting, “Lock him up!” — a chant frequently heard at Trump rallies, directed at people he doesn’t like.
There are also dozens of Trump supporters, many waving large Trump flags and chanting, “We love Trump!” A convoy of trucks festooned with pro-Trump and American flags has been driving up and down the street, with one driver jeering at the gathered press.
There’s horn honking, cowbell ringing, whistle-blowing and plenty of cheering.
Trump was golfing when a flurry of media outlets, including The Associated Press, declared Saturday morning that Biden had won the election.
He is now on his way back to the White House.
2:15 p.m.
The secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is welcoming the election of Joe Biden, calling him “a strong supporter of NATO and the transatlantic relationship.”
Jens Stoltenberg said Saturday in a statement that he looks forward to working with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris “to further strengthen the bond between North America and Europe.”
He added that “US leadership is as important as ever in an unpredictable world.”
President Donald Trump had been a ferocious critic of NATO during his 2016 campaign and repeatedly threatened to pull the U.S. from the alliance upon assuming office.
Trump pressed members of the alliance to boost their defense spending – a priority of his predecessors as well — in furtherance of collective defense. He also pushed the alliance to turn its focus from Russia to emerging threats from China and terrorism.
2:10 p.m.
Congressional Republican leaders have been notably silent on President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, but several GOP allies of President Donald Trump are disputing the outcome.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri tweeted Saturday: “The media do not get to determine who the president is. The people do.” He added, “When all lawful votes have been counted, recounts finished, and allegations of fraud addressed, we will know who the winner is.”
Other rank-and-file Republican lawmakers took a similar approach, insisting on waiting for some other verification of the results.
“Voters decide who wins the election, not the media,” tweeted Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. “I fully support President Trump as he continues to fight for every legal vote to be counted.”
Trump has so far refused to concede and is promising legal challenges. He is the first president to lose reelection since George H.W. Bush in 1992.
2 p.m.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who found himself at the center of President Donald Trump’s impeachment, is congratulating Trump’s replacement, President-elect Joe Biden.
In a Saturday tweet, Zelenskiy said “Ukraine is optimistic about the future of the strategic partnership with the United States.” He added that the two countries “have always collaborated on security, trade, investment, democracy, fight against corruption. Our friendship becomes only stronger!”
A 2019 call from Trump to Zelenskiy, in which he asked the new Ukrainian leader to investigate Biden and the Democratic National Committee, sparked an intelligence community whistleblower complaint that resulted in Trump’s impeachment last year.
Trump was eventually acquitted by the Republican-led Senate.
1:40 p.m.
Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, is congratulating President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
The Utah Republican tweeted Saturday that he and his wife know Biden and Harris “as people of good will and admirable character.” He says, “We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead.”
Romney, President Donald Trump’s most vocal critic within the Republican Party, said Friday that Trump was “damaging the cause of freedom” and inflaming “destructive and dangerous passions” by claiming, without foundation, that the election was rigged and stolen from him.
Trump has so far refused to concede and is promising unspecified legal challenges.
Romney had said earlier in the year that he wasn’t voting for Trump. He didn’t say for whom he did vote, however.
1:25 p.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer jointly called President-elect Joe Biden to congratulate him on a “tremendous” victory.
That’s according to a senior Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversation.
The aide described it as a “happy call.” Biden’s wife, Jill, also joined the conversation Saturday.
The aide says Pelosi and Schumer look forward to working with the new Democratic administration to achieve “great things” for the American people. The two did not get along with President Donald Trump.
Another senior Democratic aide says Schumer was celebrating on the streets of Brooklyn during the call and held up his phone so Biden could hear the crowds cheering for his “historic victory.” The aide also spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private call.
1:20 p.m.
The highest-ranking Black member of Congress says he specifically advised President-elect Joe Biden to pick a Black woman as his running mate if he wanted to win the White House.
House House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn told CNN on Saturday, “I said to him in private that I thought that a lot of the results would turn on whether or not there would be a Black woman” on the ticket.
Of selecting California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, Clyburn said, “I think it cemented his relationship to the Black community.”
Clyburn’s pivotal endorsement of Biden ahead of South Carolina’s early Democratic primary, the first in which Black voters played an outsize role, helped Biden develop the momentum that propelled him to successes in other primary and caucus contests, and ultimately to the Democratic nomination.
1:15 p.m.
Leaders of the United States’ traditional Western allies are offering their congratulations to the incoming Joe Biden administration.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement Saturday that the U.S. is the United Kingdom’s “most important ally” and added that he looks “forward to working closely together on our shared priorities, from climate change to trade and security.”
Johnson also singled out Vice President-elect Kamala Harris for “her historic achievement” as the first woman, first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to win national U.S. office.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that “we have a lot to do to overcome today’s challenges. Let’s work together!”
And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he’s eager to start “tackling the world’s greatest challenges together.”
All three men have had complicated and at times strained relationships with President Donald Trump.
Biden comes to the presidency with extensive foreign policy experience and said throughout his campaign that he’d immediately work to shore us U.S. relationships with traditional allies.
1:10 p.m.
Former President Barack Obama says he “could not be prouder” to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
In a statement Saturday, Obama says Biden has “got what it takes to be President and already carries himself that way,” because he will enter the White House facing “a series of extraordinary challenges no incoming President ever has.”
Acknowledging that the election revealed the nation remains bitterly divided, Obama said, “I know he’ll do the job with the best interests of every American at heart, whether or not he had their vote.”
He adds: “I encourage every American to give him a chance and lend him your support.”
Biden served as Obama’s vice president for two terms.
1 p.m.
Two former Democratic presidents are offering their congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Bill Clinton tweeted that “America has spoken and democracy has won.” The 42nd president also predicted Biden and Harris would “serve all of us and bring us all together.”
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, said in a statement Saturday that he and his wife, Rosalynn, are “proud” of the Democrats’ “well-run campaign and seeing the positive change they bring to our nation.”
Neither Clinton nor Carter mentioned President Donald Trump in their congratulatory remarks.
Biden was a young Delaware senator when Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981. Biden had risen in the ranks to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman by Clinton’s presidency in the 1990s and led confirmation hearings for Clinton’s two Supreme Court nominees: Justice Stephen Breyer and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
12:50 p.m.
The Trump administration has yet to formally begin the transition to President-elect Joe Biden.
A spokesperson for the General Services Administration said early Saturday afternoon that the administrator, Emily Murphy, has not formally ascertained that Biden is the “apparent winner” of the race. The Associated Press declared Biden the victor of the race late Saturday morning.
The formal ascertainment frees up millions of dollars and opens doors at federal agencies to Biden transition staffers to begin implementing transition plans.
The spokesperson says, “GSA and its Administrator will continue to abide by, and fulfill, all requirements under the law.”
For his part, President Donald Trump is not conceding the race and is promising unspecified legal challenges seeking to overturn the outcome of the race
12:45 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden is planning to address the nation on Saturday night.
His presidential campaign announced that Biden and his wife, Jill, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff will appear at a drive-in rally outside the convention center in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden clinched the White House over President Donald Trump late Saturday morning with a victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born. He later added Nevada to his column for a total of 290 electoral votes with three states uncalled.
The outdoor stage in Wilmington features projections of the Biden-Harris logo, colored lights and a line of towering American flags. Outside the security fence, people were already arriving with Biden campaign signs and chanting, “Joe! Joe!” and yelling, “We did it!” Cars in the area honked.
12:30 p.m.
Across the country, there were parties and prayer after Democrat Joe Biden won the presidency.
In New York City, spontaneous block parties broke out Saturday. People ran out of their buildings, banging on pots. They danced and high-fived with strangers amid honking horns.
People streamed into Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House, waving sings and taking cellphone pictures.
In Lansing, Michigan, Donald Trump supporters and Black Lives Matter demonstrators filled the Capitol steps.
The lyrics to “Amazing Grace” began to echo through the crowd, and the Trump supporters put their hands on a counterprotester and prayed.
12:25 p.m.
Hillary Clinton is congratulating the “history making ticket” of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris upon their victory over President Donald Trump.
Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016, called the election “a repudiation of Trump, and a new page for America.”
Harris will become the first woman to hold national office. Clinton was the first woman to be a major party nominee for president. She won almost 3 million more votes than Trump but fell short in key battleground states to lose the Electoral College.
The Biden-Harris ticket was able to flip several of those states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
12:15 p.m.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump is a “mandate for action.”
The Democratic leader said in a statement Saturday: “Today marks the dawning of a new day of hope for America.”
Pelosi called Biden’s vote tally a “historic victory.” She says President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will have a strong Democratic House majority “by their side.”
Biden clinched the White House with a victory in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born. He also won Nevada on Saturday.
12:13 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden has won Nevada, adding to his Electoral College victory over President Donald Trump.
Biden clinched Nevada on Saturday afternoon, shortly after he won the presidency by taking Pennsylvania.
Trump had made a strong play in Nevada, holding several rallies there in the final stretch of the campaign. Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly won Nevada in 2016, and Republicans saw an opening to expand their electoral map.
The pandemic has pummeled Nevada’s tourism-dependent economy, especially, hampering Trump’s ability to make inroads in the state.
Nevada is also home to a large Hispanic population, a voting bloc that typically leans Democratic.
The last Republican presidential candidate to win Nevada was George W. Bush in 2004.
12:10 p.m.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris says she and President-elect Joe Biden have a lot of work to do.
Harris made the comments in a tweet Saturday, shortly after Biden clinched the presidency by winning Pennsylvania.
She says, “This election is about so much more than Joe Biden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The California senator makes history with her election as vice president. She is the first woman, the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent elected to the office.
11:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump is not conceding to President-elect Joe Biden, promising unspecified legal challenges seeking to overturn the outcome of the race for the White House.
Trump said in a statement that “our campaign will start prosecuting our case in court to ensure election laws are fully upheld and the rightful winner is seated.”
Trump was at his Virginia golf course when the presidential race was called for Biden on Saturday. Biden clinched his victory with a win in Pennsylvania, the state where he was born.
In recent weeks, Trump has alleged — without evidence — widespread fraud and misconduct in the election.
His comments have drawn bipartisan rebuke from election officials and lawmakers as dangerous attempts to undermine public confidence in the vote.
11:25 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden has won Pennsylvania, surpassing the 270 electoral vote threshold to take the White House and become the 46th president of the United States.
Biden also carried Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan on his path to the presidency, flipping states that President Donald Trump won in 2016.
Pennsylvania was a must-win state for Trump.
The 77-year-old Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and sought to contrast his working-class roots with the affluent Trump’s by casting the race as “Scranton versus Park Avenue.”
Biden’s victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots.
Trump is the first incumbent president to lose reelection since Republican George H.W. Bush in 1992.
10:45 a.m.
States are still counting votes in the presidential election, Democrat Joe Biden is on the verge of victory and President Donald Trump is at his Virginia golf club for the first time since the end of September.
Trump left the White House on Saturday morning and had on golf shoes, a windbreaker and a white hat.
The White House isn’t immediately responding to questions about the president’s possible golfing partners.
There were a few people with Biden flag banners outside the club entrance when Trump arrived.
Trump also has spent the morning tweeting about his unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and illegal voting. Twitter hid four of the president’s tweets behind a warning label that they may contain disputed or misleading statements about the election.
11:05 p.m.
Joe Biden says he is already preparing to assume the presidency even though he has not been declared the winner in his race against President Donald Trump.
“I want people to know we’re not waiting to get the work done,” he said late Friday in remarks to the nation.
Biden said he and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have held briefings on the coronavirus and the economy this week as the U.S. records record daily cases.
He noted nearly 240,000 people have died from the pandemic and said he wants those families to know they aren’t alone.
He also addressed the millions of Americans who remain out of work and are struggling to pay rent or buy food.
“We don’t have any more time to waste on partisan warfare,” he said.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in the race between Biden and Trump because neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House.
10:50 p.m.
Joe Biden projected confidence Friday that he would win the presidential election, citing his lead in votes in key states like Pennsylvania.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in the race between Biden and President Donald Trump because neither candidate has reached the 270 Electoral College votes needed to carry the White House.
Biden noted he has already won the most votes in history for any presidential candidate.
He said a record number of Americans “chose change over more of the same.”
He told the nation that the political parties may be opponents, but they are not enemies.
“Let’s put the anger and the demonization behind us,” he said.
__
8:05 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump is growing in battleground Pennsylvania.
By Friday evening, the Democrat held a lead of over 19,500 votes out of more than 6.5 million ballots cast. That’s an edge of about 0.29%. State law dictates that a recount must be held if the margin between the two candidates is less than 0.5%.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the state.
The Pennsylvania secretary of state’s website said Friday that there were 102,541 more mail ballots that needed to be counted, including many from Allegheny County, a Democratic area that is home to Pittsburgh, and the Democratic stronghold of Philadelphia County.
Additionally, there are potentially tens of thousands of provisional ballots that remain to be tabulated, though an exact number remained unclear. Those ballots will be counted after officials verify their eligibility to be included.
Pennsylvania is among a handful of battleground states that Trump and Biden are narrowly contesting as they seek the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
8 p.m.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has ordered county elections officials in Pennsylvania to keep separate mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day. The state’s top elections official already had ordered those ballots be kept apart.
The order came Friday night in response to a plea from the state Republican Party as Democrat Joe Biden inched ahead of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania in the presidential race.
Alito, acting on his own, said he was motivated in part by the Republicans’ assertion that they can’t be sure elections officials are complying with guidance issued by Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat.
The justice handles emergency appeals from Pennsylvania. He ordered a response from the state by Saturday afternoon and said he has referred the matter to the full court for further action.
The order is related to an ongoing Republican appeal to the Supreme Court to try to keep ballots received in the mail after Election Day from being counted. The state’s top court granted a three-day extension, and the Supreme Court refused to block it.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the state.
6:40 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden’s lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada has grown slightly, putting the former vice president ahead by 22,657 votes in the battleground state.
The results Friday afternoon were mail-in ballots from Democrat-heavy Clark County, which include Las Vegas and three-quarters of Nevada’s population.
Biden had 632,558 votes, and Trump had 609,901. Vote counting in the state — and several other battlegrounds — is continuing.
The fresh batch of results was among 63,000 mail ballots that Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria said Friday morning that his workers were starting to process. He expected the bulk would be processed by Sunday.
Gloria has an additional 60,000 provisional ballots to be processed later.
6:05 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is adding to his lead over President Donald Trump in Georgia.
As of early Friday evening, Biden had overtaken Trump by 4,235 votes in the battleground state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection.
The Democrat first surpassed Trump in the state vote count on Friday morning as votes continue to be counted.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
If there is less than a 0.5 percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held. Biden currently holds a lead of about 0.08 percentage points.
A Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
5:25 p.m.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris is expected to deliver remarks Friday alongside Joe Biden.
Biden has scheduled a prime-time address on the presidential contest as votes continue to be counted in several battleground states. Biden is on the cusp of victory as he opened narrow leads over President Donald Trump in Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Harris has appeared alongside Biden during his remarks in recent days but has not made any public comments herself on the state of the race. A campaign official confirmed she will speak Friday night before Biden does.
The California senator has been at a hotel in Wilmington, Delaware, with her family since Tuesday night.
The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner in Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Alaska.
3:30 p.m.
Top Republican officials in Georgia say they are confident the secretary of state will ensure that ballots are properly counted.
The statement Friday from GOP Gov. Brian Kemp and others came a day after President Donald Trump alleged without any details or evidence that election officials are trying to “steal the election” from him.
Trump said Thursday that the “election apparatus in Georgia is run by Democrats,” even though the top election official is a Republican whom he endorsed.
Democrat Joe Biden was leading Trump in Georgia by about 1,500 votes midday Friday. The Associated Press has not called the race for either candidate yet.
3:10 p.m.
The federal agency that oversees U.S. election security is pushing back at unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud without mentioning that President Donald Trump is making unfounded allegations about the vote count.
A new statement from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency notes that local election offices have detection measures that “make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots.”
CISA, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, published the statement Friday on a section of its website devoted to dispelling rumors. It said it was countering a rumor about the role of DHS and CISA in the printing of ballots and auditing of results. Neither agency has a role in printing or auditing ballots. CISA principally helps local and state election departments protect themselves against cyberattacks.
CISA also put out a statement noting that the systems and processes used to tabulate votes and certify results “are protected by various safeguards that help ensure the accuracy of election results.”
The agency has been urging the public for weeks to be patient during the counting of results, which was slower this year in large part because of COVID-19 and a large number of mail-in ballots. It has made no comment on Trump saying without evidence that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt.
2:50 p.m.
Pennsylvania Republicans are turning to the U.S. Supreme Court to ask for an order that mail ballots arriving after Election Day in the battleground state be segregated. The state’s top elections official already had ordered those ballots be kept apart.
The emergency request Friday came as Democrat Joe Biden inched ahead of President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.
The plea is part of an ongoing Republican appeal to the Supreme Court to try to keep ballots received in the mail after Election Day from being counted. The state’s top court granted a three-day extension, and the Supreme Court refused to block it.
But Democratic Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar told local officials to keep the ballots separate because the high court hasn’t ultimately decided whether to step in.
Republicans presented no evidence that counties are not adhering to Boockvar’s orders, but said, “It is unclear whether all county boards are following them in the post-election chaos.”
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the state.
2:30 p.m.
A statewide appellate court judge in Pennsylvania has dismissed a request from Republicans to stop the state or counties from counting provisional ballots that were cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were disqualified by a technicality.
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s state elections bureau last month gave guidance to counties that a voter could use a provisional ballot if they “did not successfully vote” with the mail-in or absentee ballot they were issued, or if their ballot was rejected and they believe they are eligible to vote.
The Democratic National Committee, which had sought to oppose the case in court, said Republicans wanted to “throw out lawfully cast provisional ballots.”
Wolf’s top elections official, Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar, a Democrat, has insisted that the practice is legal and not prohibited by law.
Regardless, she said there aren’t “overwhelming” numbers of voters who cast a provisional ballot after their mail-in ballot was disqualified, but she has not given an exact figure.
2 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden has increased his lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada to 20,137 votes.
Results released Friday from Democrat-heavy Clark County, which includes Las Vegas and three-quarters of Nevada’s population, along with two rural counties, put Biden at 627,104 votes and Trump at 606,967.
Biden’s lead nearly doubled from Thursday, when he was leading Trump by about 11,000 votes.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in several battleground states.
Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria says his county has an additional 63,000 mail ballots to be processed over the next few days and 60,000 provisional ballots to be processed later.
Gloria said Clark County would release more results Friday afternoon but he said he did not know exactly how many ballots could be included in that release.
The state has said it will provide an update later Friday on how many ballots are yet to be counted statewide. On Thursday, they reported that number at 190,150.
1:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he “will never give up fighting for you and our nation” as he is on the cusp of losing his bid for reelection.
Trump is spending Friday at the White House tweeting, watching results come in and continuing to cast unfounded doubt over the integrity of the election.
He says in a statement released by his campaign: “We believe the American people deserve to have full transparency into all vote counting and election certification.” And he adds that “This is no longer about any single election. This is about the integrity of our entire election process.”
There is no evidence that any votes cast illegally are being counted or that the process is unfair and corrupt. Indeed, the ballot-counting process across the country largely has been running smoothly, if slowly, because of the increase in mail-in ballots because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Trump is nonetheless threatening continued legal action, saying: “We will pursue this process through every aspect of the law to guarantee that the American people have confidence in our government.”
Trump’s Democratic rival, Joe Biden, has opened up narrow leads over Trump in the critical battlegrounds of Georgia and Pennsylvania.
12:55 p.m.
Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, says President Donald Trump is “damaging the cause of freedom” and inflaming “destructive and dangerous passions” by claiming, without foundation, that the election was rigged and stolen from him.
Romney lost to President Barack Obama in 2012 but was gracious in defeat. He is Trump’s most vocal critic within the Republican Party and voted to convict him in Trump’s impeachment trial early this year.
The Utah Republican offered his assessment Friday on Twitter, saying that Trump is well within his rights to challenge the results through the legal remedies available to him. But Romney says Trump is “wrong to say that the election was rigged, corrupt, and stolen from him — doing so damages the cause of freedom here and around the world.”
Democrat Joe Biden is on the cusp of winning the presidency as he opens up narrow leads over Trump in several critical backgrounds.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia.
12:40 p.m.
Joe Biden’s campaign says he will give a speech during prime time Friday.
The Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign announced that he would be making an address but did not say where or what he plans to say.
Biden is on the cusp of winning the presidency as he opens up narrow leads over President Donald Trump in several critical backgrounds.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race. Votes are still being counted in states including Pennsylvania and Georgia.
He has urged the public to be patient as vote counting continues. He was spending Friday at home in Wilmington, Delaware.
A stage set up since election night for a victory party outside the city’s convention center remained intact and has been secured for days by security personnel using high fencing and car barriers.
Biden campaign staffers who arrived in Wilmington for a victory party earlier in the week have been told to hold onto their hotel rooms until early next week.
11:50 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden leads by more than 9,000 votes. The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Votes in the state are still being counted.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor. Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
8:50 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the state, which Trump must win to have a shot at reelection. Biden now holds a nearly 6,000-vote advantage.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Votes in the state are still being counted.
Trump’s lead dwindled after Election Day when state officials began processing mail-in ballots, a form of voting that has skewed heavily in Biden’s favor after Trump spent months claiming — without proof — that voting by mail would lead to widespread voter fraud.
If there is less than a half percentage point difference between Biden’s and Trump’s vote totals, state law dictates that a recount must be held.
4:40 a.m.
Democrat Joe Biden is now leading President Donald Trump in the battleground state of Georgia.
By Friday morning, Biden overtook Trump in the number of ballots counted in the battleground, a must-win state for Trump that has long been a Republican stronghold. Biden now has a 917-vote advantage.
The contest is still too early for The Associated Press to call. Thousands of ballots are still left to be counted — many in counties where the former vice president was in the lead.
An AP analysis showed that Biden’s vote margins grew as counties processed mail ballots cast in his favor.
There is a potential that the race could go to a recount. Under Georgia law, if the margin between Biden and Trump is under half a percentage point of difference, a recount can be requested.
THURSDAY
7:55 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden says, “No one is going to take our democracy away from us.” His comment came after President Donald Trump’s unfounded claims that Democrats were trying to “steal” the presidential election from him.
In a Thursday evening tweet, Biden says, “America has come too far, fought too many battles, and endured too much to let that happen.”
The nation is waiting to learn whether Biden or Trump will collect the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency. Biden’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin have put him in a commanding position, but Trump has shown no sign of giving up.
Speaking earlier Thursday from the White House, Trump did not back up his claim about Democrats with any details or evidence. State and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
The ballot-counting process across the country has been running smoothly, and the count is ongoing in several battleground states.
7:10 p.m.
A federal judge has denied a bid by President Donald Trump’s campaign to stop the vote count in Philadelphia over observer access, urging the two sides to instead forge an agreement.
U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond suggested each party be allowed 60 observers inside a hall at a downtown convention center where the final ballots are being tallied. As the hearing unfolded Thursday evening, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden were locked in a tight battle for the 20 electoral votes in Pennsylvania.
Diamond, an appointee of President George W. Bush, chastened the lawyers as both sides bickered about who was following the rules and reminded them they are officers of the court.
“Really, can’t we be responsible adults here and reach an agreement?” the exasperated judge asked. “The whole thing could (soon) be moot.”
Republicans went to court Thursday afternoon to complain that election officials in the Democratic-led city were ignoring a state court order they’d won earlier in the day to give them a closer view of ballot processing.
7:05 p.m.
The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the presidential race, with a number of battleground states still too early to call.
But President Donald Trump is renewing his unfounded claims that Democrats are trying to “steal” the election from him. He did not back up his claim with any details or evidence. State and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud.
Trump spoke from the White House briefing room on Thursday, unleashing harsh criticism of pre-election polling that showed him trailing Democrat Joe Biden and claiming without evidence that the ballot-counting process is unfair and corrupt. He also renewed his criticism of widespread use of mail-in balloting in the pandemic.
The ballot-counting process across the country has been running smoothly, and the count is ongoing in several battleground states.
6:15 p.m.
A legal effort in Nevada by President Donald Trump’s campaign and state Republicans to try to stop the count of mail ballots in Las Vegas is over.
A document submitted in an appeal pending before the state Supreme Court says the campaign, state GOP, Democrats and attorneys for the state have reached a settlement requiring Clark County election officials to supply “additional observation access” at a ballot processing facility in Las Vegas.
The state high court declined on Election Day to stop the count based on an appeal of a state judge’s decision not to stop processing mail ballots in Las Vegas and surrounding Clark County – a Democratic stronghold in an otherwise red GOP state.
In an order released Monday, Judge James Wilson Jr. in Carson City said he found neither the state nor Clark County had done anything to give one vote preference over another.
Nevada Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to suppress voting in the state’s most diverse area.
Trump campaign representatives said Thursday that they intended to file another complaint in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas to try to stop the counting of what state campaign co-chair Adam Laxalt called “improper votes.” That lawsuit was not immediately filed.
6 p.m.
President Donald Trump is set to make his first public appearance since the early morning hours after Election Day.
The White House says Trump will deliver remarks at 6:30 p.m. Thursday from the press briefing room. It was unclear if he would take questions.
Trump last appeared in public early Wednesday, when he falsely declared victory over Democrat Joe Biden in the presidential race. Trump has also publicly called for vote counting to stop by citing baseless allegations of fraud and misconduct.
The presidential race has not yet been called because neither Trump nor Biden has yet collected the requisite 270 Electoral College votes.
Biden’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin have put him in a commanding position to win the presidency, but Trump has showed no sign of giving up.
5:50 p.m.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee have asked an Arizona judge to let them join a lawsuit that alleges vote tabulation equipment in metro Phoenix was unable to record a voter’s ballot because she completed it with a county-issued Sharpie pen.
They argued that anecdotal accounts of potential tabulation errors resulting from Sharpies demands further review and that they should be allowed to participate in the lawsuit because it will likely affect their interests in the tabulation of votes.
The lawsuit seeks a court order for all Maricopa County voters whose ballots were rejected as a result of using a Sharpie to be given a chance to fix their ballots. It also asks for such voters to be able to be present while election officials count their ballots.
The Arizona Democratic Party earlier asked to join the lawsuit, arguing that Democratic voters could be disenfranchised if the woman who filed the lawsuit was able to challenge a voter’s intent in making ballot choices without knowing the applicable standards.
A judge is holding a hearing Thursday in Phoenix in the lawsuit by Phoenix-area voter Laurie Aguilera, who also alleged ink from the marker bled through the back side of her ballot and that poll workers refused her request for a new ballot.
4:30 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden says he feels “very good” about the outcome of the presidential election and is telling his supporters to “stay calm” as votes continue to be counted.
Biden delivered brief remarks Thursday at a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. He says, “It is the will of the voters — no one, not anyone else — who chooses the president of the United States of America.”
President Donald Trump’s campaign has pursued legal efforts to halt the vote counting in some states and is seeking a recount in Wisconsin.
Biden says that “the process is working” and “we’ll know very soon” the outcome of the election. Biden and his top campaign officials have expressed confidence about the vote but have been careful to emphasize the need for every ballot to be counted.
Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, stood next to him as he spoke.
The Associated Press has not called the presidential race yet because neither Biden nor Trump has secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Several key states remain too early to call — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.
3:35 p.m.
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the U.S. Postal Service to perform twice daily sweeps of processing centers in states with extended ballot receipt deadlines to check for mail-in votes and to expedite them for delivery.
Thursday’s order will remain in place until the end of states’ windows for accepting ballots.
According to court records, a similar order by the same judge earlier this week found just 13 ballots in a search of 27 processing hubs in several battleground areas.
Elections officials in key battleground states are continuing presidential vote counting. Democrat Joe Biden is urging patience, while President Donald Trump is pursing his legal options.
Several key states are too early to call — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.
2:25 p.m.
Joe Biden is getting virtual briefings on the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout from panels of experts, sticking to a routine he’s had since March, even as the outcome of the presidential race remains in doubt.
The former vice president traveled Thursday afternoon to a theater in downtown Wilmington, Delaware, where his campaign has set up a makeshift studio. He and his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, often sit facing large screens while experts participate by video conference.
Biden has held similar public health and economic briefings about once a week since March while criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration for the federal government’s response to a pandemic that has killed more than 230,000 Americans.
Journalists traveling with Biden were not allowed inside the briefing but saw him as he entered the theater. He did not take questions.
2 p.m.
The Arizona Democratic Party has asked a court to let it participate in a lawsuit that alleges vote tabulation equipment in metro Phoenix was unable to record a voter’s ballot because she completed it with a county-issued Sharpie pen.
A judge is holding a hearing Thursday in Phoenix in the lawsuit by voter Laurie Aguilera, who also alleged that ink from the marker bled through the back side of her ballot and that poll workers refused her request for a new ballot.
Aguilera is seeking a court order for all Maricopa County voters whose ballots were rejected as a result of using a Sharpie to be given a chance to fix their ballots. She also is asking for such voters to be able to be present while election officials count their ballots.
The Democrats say the lawsuit is based on the unconfirmed account of one voter and her request to monitor ballot processing could throw the processing of ballots in Arizona’s largest county in disarray.
In a court filing, the party says Democratic voters could be disenfranchised if Aguilera and others were able to challenge a voter’s intent in making ballot choices without knowing the applicable standards.
Arizona election officials have said voting with a Sharpie would have no impact on the votes being recorded by a tabulation machine.
1:55 p.m.
As the nation awaits results from Nevada, Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria says it could take until Saturday or Sunday before the state’s largest county finishes tallying mail-in ballots that have been returned.
Gloria said Thursday at a press conference: “Our goal here in Clark County is not to count fast. We want to make sure that we’re being accurate.”
Gloria says Clark County has at least 63,262 ballots left to count, including 34,743 returned in drop boxes on Election Day and 4,208 returned via the U.S. Postal Service. But as mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day continue to trickle in, Gloria said he had no way of knowing the total number of outstanding ballots.
He says, “That’s a number that I can’t give you. I can’t predict to you what’s going to come through the U.S. mail.”
Gloria says the fact that Nevada’s six electoral votes could push Democrat Joe Biden beyond the 270 electoral vote threshold needed to win the presidency reaffirmed the need to not rush the count.
He said the last day to count ballots is Nov. 12.
1:30 p.m.
A Michigan judge has dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump’s campaign in a dispute over whether Republican challengers had access to the handling of absentee ballots.
Judge Cynthia Stephens noted that the lawsuit was filed late Wednesday afternoon, just hours before the last ballots were counted. She also said the defendant, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, was the wrong person to sue because she doesn’t control the logistics of local ballot counting, even if she is the state’s chief election officer.
The Associated Press called the Michigan presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden on Wednesday evening. Trump won the state in 2016.
The lawsuit claimed Benson, a Democrat, was allowing absentee ballots to be counted without teams of bipartisan observers as well as challengers. She was accused of undermining the “constitutional right of all Michigan voters … to participate in fair and lawful elections.”
Benson, through state attorneys, denied the allegations. Much of the dispute centered on the TCF Center in Detroit where pro-Trump protesters gathered while absentee ballots were being counted.
11:45 a.m.
A judge in Georgia has dismissed a lawsuit by the state Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s campaign that asked him to ensure a coastal county was following state laws on processing absentee ballots.
Chatham County Superior Court Judge James Bass did not provide an explanation for his decision Thursday at the close of a roughly one-hour hearing. The county includes the heavily Democratic city of Savannah.
The suit had raised concerns about 53 absentee ballots that poll observers said were not part of an original batch of ballots. County elections officials testified that all 53 ballots had been received on time.
11:40 a.m.
Joe Biden’s campaign is expressing optimism at the ultimate result of the election but warning supporters to “stay patient and stay calm” as vote counting continues.
Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said Thursday on a briefing call with reporters that “the story of today is going to be a very positive story” for their campaign, but cautioned that as the counting continues, “we need to allow it to get done and get done well.”
She says the campaign expects their lead to fluctuate in some states as more votes come in.
O’Malley Dillon also charged that legal challenges by President Donald Trump’s campaign to halt vote counting in some states and seek a recount in Wisconsin are a “flailing strategy” that are an “attempt to distract and delay” from the results of the election.
The Associated Press is not calling the presidential race yet because neither candidate has secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. Several key states were too early to call — Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Nevada.
10:38 a.m.
Arizona state officials say there are about 450,000 ballots still to be counted in the Western battleground.
The AP says it is monitoring that vote count as it comes in. The AP has called the presidential race in Arizona for Democrat Joe Biden.
AP executive editor Sally Buzbee says: “The Associated Press continues to watch and analyze vote count results from Arizona. We will follow the facts in all cases.”
Biden holds a 2.35 percentage point lead over Trump in Arizona, an advantage of about 68,000 votes.
The vast majority of the ballots yet to be counted are from Maricopa County, the most populous area of the state.
9:40 a.m.
With Joe Biden edging closer to unseating him from the White House, President Donald Trump says he wants to put a halt to vote counting.
The extraordinary statement by an incumbent president to voice support for ceasing the count of legally cast votes came in a Thursday morning tweet, saying only: “STOP THE COUNT!”
Elections are run by individual state, county and local governments. Trump’s public comments have no impact on the tallying of votes across the country.
So far, the vote count across the country has been conducted efficiently and without evidence of any misconduct, despite Trump’s public complaints.
Trump’s comments come as his campaign has filed legal action in several states to try to stop vote counting, claiming a lack of transparency. Still, Trump’s campaign has held out hope that continued counting in Arizona could overcome a Biden lead in the state.
WEDNESDAY
9:12 p.m.
Democrat Gary Peters has held onto his Senate seat in Michigan. He has defeated Republican challenger John James, a Black business executive and former combat veteran.
The 61-year-old Peters continued Democrats’ dominance of Senate elections in the presidential battleground state. Republicans, who have won just one Senate seat in Michigan since the 1970s, spent heavily to try to unseat Peters in one of their few pickup opportunities.
Peters is a low-key former congressman, state lawmaker, lottery commissioner and investment adviser who served in the Navy Reserve. He ran by emphasizing his bipartisan work and by criticizing James’ support for President Donald Trump.
7:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Georgia Republican Party have filed a lawsuit against the Chatham County Board of Elections asking a judge to order the county to secure and account for ballots received after 7 p.m. on Election Day.
State party chair David Shafer said in a statement Wednesday night that they planned to sue in a dozen counties.
The lawsuit alleges that a Republican observer watched a poll worker take unprocessed absentee ballots from a back room and mix them into processed absentee ballots waiting to be tabulated.
In Georgia, ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day in order to count. Chatham County contains Savannah and leans Democratic.
A woman who answered the phone at the Chatham County Board of Elections offices declined to comment.
Georgia is among a handful of states that The Associated Press has not called. In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, Democrat Joe Biden currently has 264 while Trump has 214.
5:56 p.m.
Democrat Joe Biden has carried Michigan and its 16 electoral votes, further dismantling Donald Trump’s Rust Belt wall of support that helped deliver him the presidency four years ago.
The flip from red back to blue was a huge blow to Trump, whose victories in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2016 sent him to the White House. Biden also carried Wisconsin, though Pennsylvania hasn’t been called yet.
Biden’s victory in Michigan pushes him to 264 Electoral College votes, six short of the 270 needed to win the White House. Trump is at 214 electoral votes. Nevada, which has six electoral votes, is among the states Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016 that hasn’t yet been called.
Biden’s campaign had particularly focused on turning out Black voters in Detroit, who failed to show up for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the numbers that Barack Obama received during his two presidential bids.
Despite needing to win Michigan, Trump took frequent swipes at the state’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who was the target of an alleged kidnapping plot that was foiled by federal law enforcement. Chants of “Lock her up!” toward Whitmer echoed at Trump’s rally, and he railed against the governor on Twitter for her cautious approach to the coronavirus pandemic.
5:20 p.m.
The top elections official in Nevada’s most populous county says more results will be released Thursday morning that include mail-in ballots received on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon that he did not yet know how many ballots had been received but uncounted in the Las Vegas area.
Early results showed Democrat Joe Biden with a slim lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada, but it was too early to declare a winner in the race Wednesday with a large number of ballots yet to be counted.
The Nevada secretary of state’s office initially said a new batch of results would be released Thursday morning. But Deputy Secretary of State for Elections Wayne Thorley said in a text message that the state would likely release some additional results Wednesday afternoon but that he did not know how many would be included.
Gloria said he would be holding daily 10 a.m. news conferences until all ballots were counted, including provisional ballots that were cast by voters taking advantage of same-day registration, electronic ballots sent to overseas voters or ballots for disabled voters.
5:15 p.m.
The Associated Press has not yet declared winners of the presidential contests in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina or Michigan.
President Donald Trump, however, has prematurely declared that he has carried the states.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that he has “claimed, for Electoral Vote purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (which won’t allow legal observers) the State of Georgia, and the State of North Carolina, each one of which has a BIG Trump lead.”
“Additionally, we hereby claim the State of Michigan if, in fact,” he says, “there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported!”
Trump has been trying for months to undermine public confidence in the election if he does not win.
Trump’s Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, currently has 248 electoral votes, while Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
4:55 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s campaign has accused a Michigan election official of failing to ensure that challengers and bipartisan observers watch the processing of absentee ballots.
The Republican campaign filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to stop the count, which was mostly centered in Detroit, until Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson allows more inspectors. There was no immediate response from a Court of Claims judge.
The Associated Press has not yet called Michigan.
Trump’s allies chanted, “Stop the count!” inside TCF Center, where ballots were being handled. The Detroit elections department was expected to finish counting absentee ballots by Wednesday evening.
Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel says, “Michigan’s elections have been conducted transparently, with access provided for both political parties and the public, and using a robust system of checks and balances to ensure that all ballots are counted fairly and accurately.”
More than 3 million absentee ballots were cast in Michigan in the first major election since a new law made them available to any voter. But local election clerks couldn’t start counting them until after polls closed Tuesday.
4:20 p.m.
Joe Biden says he’s not ready to declare victory as vote counting continues in the presidential election, but he says, “When the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners.”
The Associated Press hasn’t called the presidential race. Biden currently has 248 electoral votes, while President Donald Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
Biden addressed reporters Wednesday afternoon from Wilmington, Delaware, alongside his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris.
Biden says, “Every vote must be counted.” He added, “We the people will not be silenced.”
Biden also tried to sound like a president-elect, promising to reach out to political opponents and insisting that the presidency “itself is not a partisan institution.”
Biden did not take questions. President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has filed lawsuits in Pennsylvania and Michigan as ballots continue to be counted in both states.
3:35 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s campaign says it’s suing to temporarily stop the vote count in Pennsylvania, claiming lack of “transparency.”
Justin Clark, Trump’s deputy campaign manager, said in a statement Wednesday that the campaign is “suing to stop Democrat election officials from hiding the ballot counting and processing from our Republican poll observers.” He said the campaign wants “to temporarily halt counting until there is meaningful transparency and Republicans can ensure all counting is done above board and by the law.”
Clark also said the campaign would seek to intervene in an ongoing Supreme Court case involving the deadline for receiving mail-in ballots.
There have been no reports of fraud or any type of ballot concerns out of Pennsylvania. The state had more than 3.1 million mail-in ballots that take time to count, and an order allows them to be counted up until Friday if they are postmarked by Nov. 3.
The Associated Press has not yet called Pennsylvania. Democrat Joe Biden currently has 248 electoral votes, while Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
2:16 p.m.
Joe Biden has defeated President Donald Trump in battleground Wisconsin, securing the state’s 10 electoral votes and reclaiming a key part of the blue wall that slipped away from Democrats four years ago.
The Associated Press called Wisconsin for Biden after election officials in the state said all outstanding ballots had been counted, save for a few hundred in one township and an expected small number of provisional ballots.
Trump’s campaign has requested a recount. Statewide recounts in Wisconsin have historically changed the vote tally by only a few hundred votes; Biden leads by .624 percentage points out of nearly 3.3 million ballots counted.
The victory for Biden bumps him up to 248 electoral votes, while Trump has 214. It takes 270 to win the presidency.
In 2016, Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes, a breakthrough that along with wins in Michigan and Pennsylvania helped hand him his first term in the White House. Democrats were determined to reclaim Wisconsin, a state that before Trump hadn’t gone for a Republican since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
2:02 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s campaign says it has filed a lawsuit trying to halt the vote count in battleground Michigan.
The latest counts gives Trump’s Democratic challenger Joe Biden a small lead, but the race is still too early to call.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien says in a statement Wednesday that the campaign “has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law.”
He says a suit was filed Wednesday in the Michigan Court of Claims “to halt counting until meaningful access has been granted.”
Michigan is a critical battleground state that helped deliver Trump the presidency four years ago, along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Neither Wisconsin or Pennsylvania has been called yet.
1:30 p.m.
Joe Biden will address the election results Wednesday afternoon, even as it remains too early for The Associated Press to call the presidential race.
The Democratic presidential candidate will issue a televised address in Wilmington, Delaware. He’s been watching the returns come in with family from his home there.
Biden’s campaign manager expressed confidence in an eventual win for Democrats during a call with reporters earlier Wednesday, pointing to their projections of the outcome in Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
But the AP is not calling the presidential race yet because neither candidate has secured the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. The AP called Arizona for Biden, but several key states remain too early to call: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada.
As it stands, Biden has 238 electoral votes, while Trump has 214.
1:24 p.m.
President Donald Trump has won one of Maine’s four electoral votes, just as he did in 2016.
Trump carried the state’s 2nd Congressional District, the more rural and conservative of Maine’s congressional districts.
While Democrat Joe Biden easily carried the state itself, Maine is one of only two states that divides its electoral votes.
Biden won the 1st Congressional District and the statewide tally, good for three electoral votes. Trump’s victory in the 2nd Congressional District means he wins one electoral vote.
Maine split its electoral votes four years ago, awarding three to Democrat Hillary Clinton and one to Trump.
2016 marked the first time in state history that Maine divided its electoral votes.
In the race to the 270 electoral votes needed to win, Biden has 238 while Trump has 214.
12:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien says the president plans to “immediately” request a recount in the battleground state of Wisconsin, where the race remains close.
In Wisconsin, if a race is within 1 percentage point, the trailing candidate can force a recount.
Stepien says in a statement Wednesda