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.