Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd announces non-renewal of BP shipping charters

Press release from Nordic American Tanker Shipping


Hamilton, Bermuda, October 1, 2003. Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited (AMEX:NAT,OSE:NAT) (the "Company") today announced that BP Shipping Ltd. ("BP") the charterer of the Company's 3 Suezmax tankers, has not delivered notice of exercise of its options to extend the charters, which was due today.  Accordingly, the charters will terminate on October 1, 2004, subject to a redelivery window for the vessels of between September 1, 2004 and November 1, 2004.
 
Under the Company's Bye-Laws, the Company is obligated to call a special meeting of shareholders no later than April 1, 2004, to consider a proposal to sell the vessels and distribute the net proceeds to shareholders or to assess other alternatives.  The proposal is to be accompanied by the recommendation of the Company's Board of Directors as to whether it believes that the sale of the vessels is in the Company's best interests, or whether an alternative plan, such as attempting to arrange replacement charters, might be of greater benefit.  The Company expects to mail materials approximately 3-4 weeks before the meeting.
 
As previously announced by the Company, in the absence of a renewal by BP of its option for all 3 vessels, the following alternatives are possible:
  •         The renegotiation by the Company and BP of the charters.
  •         The employment by the Company of the vessels in the spot market as from October 1, 2004.
  •         The long-term charter of the vessels to other end-users than BP.
  •         The sale of the vessels and the distribution of the proceeds to the company's shareholders.
  •         Any combination of these alternatives.
    •  
    In connection with the special shareholders' meeting, the Board is expected to consider whether the alternatives other than the sale of all of the vessels as outlined above, might be of greater benefit to shareholders.
     
    The Company also announced that it has been approached on an unsolicited basis by major international shipping companies expressing an interest in cooperating with the Company with the view to developing the Company further.  At present, the Company has received no formal offers.
     
    Contacts:
    Gary J. Wolfe
    Seward & Kissel, New York, USA
    Tel: (1) 212  574 1223
    Scandic American Shipping Ltd
    P.O Box 56
    3201 Sandefjord
    Norway
    Tel: + 47 33 44 61 40, or +47 901 46 291, e-mail:  nat@scandicamerican.com or
    Rolf Amundsen
    Amundsen Partners, Oslo, Norway
    Tel: + 47 908 26 906


    CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

    The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words "believe," "except," "anticipate," "intends," "estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect" "pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

    The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our management's examination of historical operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available from third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

    In addition to these important factors, important factors that, in the Company's view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charterhire rates and vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as a result of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and world wide oil consumption and storage, changes in the Company's operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Company's vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.