Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. – (NYSE: NAT) Announces Delivery of its 16th Vessel- Bolstering the Company’s Dividend Capacity

 
Hamilton, Bermuda, July 7, 2009
 
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the “Company”) today took delivery of the suezmax vessel that the Company announced in May this year it had agreed to acquire. The double hull suezmax vessel has been named Nordic Grace. Including the Nordic Grace, the fleet of the Company consists of 16 suezmax vessels of which two are newbuildings. The vessel will be employed in the Company’s cooperative arrangement with the Stena Group of Gothenburg, Sweden.
 
Herbjorn Hansson, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:  “Our policy is to grow when it is profitable and accretive to do so. That is, after the acquisition of a vessel, the Company should be able to pay a higher dividend per share compared to the situation in which an acquisition had not taken place – irrespective of the level of the spot market, and so long as we remain above our average cash breakeven which is currently less than $10,000 per day per ship.  We believe that the purchase of this vessel is an example of such an accretive acquisition. Over time, the Company’s fleet continues to grow faster than its share count.”
 
This transaction is in line with the Company’s growth strategy. The purchase of this vessel is financed by cash on hand.  Having one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry, the Company is committed to continuing its full dividend policy and transparent operating model.
 
 
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,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,” “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.  We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
 
Important factors that, in our 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 charter 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 our operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our 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, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hire, failure on the part of a seller to complete a sale to us and other important factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the prospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and our Reports on Form 6-K.
 
 
Contacts:
Scandic American Shipping Ltd 
Manager for:
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited
P.O Box 56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway
Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail:  nat@scandicamerican.com
 
Rolf Amundsen, Investor Relations
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited
Tel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906
 
Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA
Tel: +1 212 574 1223
 
Turid M. Sørensen, CFO
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited
Tel:  + 47 33 42 73 00 or + 47 905 72 927
 
Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited
Tel:  +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 901 46 291

Press release (PDF)