HAMILTON, BERMUDA, Nov. 7, 2009 (Marketwire) --
HAMILTON, BERMUDA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/07/09 --
Press release (PDF): http://hugin.info/201/R/1353474/327837.pdf
Hamilton, Bermuda, November 7, 2009
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the "Company" or "NAT") today announced that the Company has agreed to acquire its eighteenth 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 March 1, 2010. 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 eighteenth 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.
