HAMILTON, BERMUDA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/14/09 --

Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the "Company") today announced that it has cancelled all stock options (400,000) reserved for issuance under the 2004 Stock Incentive Plan including the 320,000 options previously granted to its directors (10,000 each, 60,000 in total), to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (100,000), to employees of the Company (80,000) and to employees of its Manager (80,000). The Stock Incentive Plan was established in November 2004 when the Company became an operating company.

The stock options were cancelled in exchange for a payment equal to the difference between the strike price of the options and the closing price of $30.70 per share for the Company's shares on the New York Stock Exchange August 13, 2009. The compensation of $7.23 per option results in a cash outlay of $2.3 million for the Company, which is covered by cash on hand. The cancellation of the options is expected to result in a charge of approximately $450,000 to the Company's Profit & Loss account for the 3rd quarter 2009.

Following the cancellation described above, there are no more stock options reserved for issuance under the Company's Stock Incentive Plan.

Herbjorn Hansson, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated: "When the plan was introduced the Company had only three ships. With an operating fleet of 14 Suezmax tankers and two newbuildings to be delivered next year, the Company today is very different, and the cancellation of the options was appropriate. I intend to use the net after-tax proceeds from the cancellation of my 100,000 options to purchase shares of the Company in the open market."

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.