Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT)-(NYSE:NAT) Letter to Shareholders from the Chairman and CEO

Hamilton, Bermuda, July 7, 2008
 
Letter to Shareholders from the Chairman and CEO
 
Dear Shareholder,
 
The first half of 2008 has produced excellent results for our company.  The strong market has continued throughout the second quarter.  The average spot market rate for modern suezmax tankers, according to the Imarex Tanker Index (“Imarex”), was $70,625 per day for 2Q08 compared to $43,635 per day during 1Q08. The Imarex numbers give an indication of the level of the spot tanker market. However, the rates as reported by Imarex may differ from the actual rates that we achieve in the market. Going forward, spot freight rates can be expected to fluctuate significantly as in the past.
 
Our dividend and earnings report will be released before opening of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) August 8th 2008.  Payment of our dividend is expected to take place September 2nd 2008 to shareholders of record as of August 21st 2008.
 
You will recall that our dividend for the first quarter was $1.18 per share. We would like to inform you that the dividend payment for the second quarter can be expected to be above $1.50 per share.
 
The strong market is continuing into the third quarter at the time of this writing.
 
We thank you for your continued interest in Nordic American and we wish you all the best for the summer!
 
 
Sincerely,
Herbjørn Hansson
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer