Oct. 5, 2009 (Hugin AS) --
Hamilton, Bermuda, October 5, 2009
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the "Company" or "NAT") today
announced that the Company has agreed to acquire its seventeenth
vessel, a double-hull suezmax tanker built in a first class Far
Eastern shipyard in 2002 for a purchase price of $51.5 million. The
vessel is expected to be delivered to us no later than November 30,
2009. This acquisition will be financed from cash on hand. No equity
offering is being planned in connection with this acquisition.
The new vessel is expected to be operated in the spot market or on
spot market-related charters.
Herbjørn Hansson, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
stated: "We are confident that this, our seventeenth suezmax vessel,
will be accretive both to dividends and earnings per share.
Therefore, dividends and earnings per share can be expected to be
higher than had this vessel not been acquired. NAT is committed to
continuing to build upon its successful operating model in which the
elements of full dividend payout and accretive growth are central."
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.
