Hamilton, Bermuda, January 5th, 2009.

Nordic American  Tanker  Shipping  Ltd.  (NYSE:NAT)  (the  "Company")
announced  today  that  it  has  agreed  to  acquire  a   double-hull
Suezmax tanker which is expected  to be delivered  to the Company  by
March 15,  2009.  The  agreed  price for  the  acquisition  is  $56.7
million.

Management expects that the Company's quarterly dividend and earnings
per share will be  higher after the delivery  of the vessel than  had
the purchase not taken place.

This acquisition will increase the Company's fleet to 15  double-hull
Suezmax vessels, including the two previously announced  newbuildings
the Company has agreed to acquire. These newbuildings are expected to
be delivered  by the  end  of 2009  and by  the  end of  April  2010,
respectively. The Company has no net debt at this time and an  unused
credit line  of  $500 million.  The  acquisition is  expected  to  be
financed from out of the Company's financial resources.

The vessel to  be acquired was  built in 1999  and was dry-docked  in
December 2008. The vessel has  been controlled by one shipping  group
since it was delivered from the  Samsung shipyard in 1999. After  the
acquisition, the Company will own  seven vessels built at this  yard,
facilitating  further   economies   of   scale   and   cost-efficient
operations. The vessel is expected to be employed in the spot market.

Typically, based on  the dividend  model of the  Company, also  going
forward the dividend can be expected  to show volatility of the  same
nature  as  the  spot  Suezmax  tanker  market  rates.   The  Company
announced that its dividend per share for the 4th quarter of 2008  is
expected to be approximately  $0.85 per share.  The dividend for  the
comparable period of 2007  was $0.50 per  share. The average  charter
rate level for  the Company's trading  spot fleet, including  offhire
days, is estimated to be in the  range of $40,000 per day per  vessel
for the 4th quarter of 2008.  In the 4th quarter of 2008 the fleet of
the Company had 35 days offhire due to unscheduled repairs during the
quarter.  The spot rate contracts entered  into for 2009 at the  time
of this writing are well above the level achieved on average for  the
4th quarter of 2008.

As a  matter of  policy, the  Company does  not predict  future  spot
rates. The Company  is not  involved in derivative  contracts of  any
nature.

The Company's Chairman and CEO, Herbjørn Hansson, commented:

"The acquisition  of  this  high quality  vessel  will  increase  the
dividend and  earnings capacity  of the  Company and  we expect  this
acquisition  to  be  accretive.    Further  acquisitions  are   under
planning. We  are  continuously  working  to  enhance  the  Company's
ability to pay quarterly dividends based upon the Company's  dividend
model which  we  expect  will  continue. The  Company  has  now  paid
dividends for  45 consecutive  quarters. We believe  that our  strong
balance sheet, well defined  and transparent operating model  provide
the Company with a solid competitive position going forward."


      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. This press release and any other written or  oral
statements made by us  or on our  behalf may include  forward-looking
statements which reflect our views with respect to future events  and
financial performance. The  words "believe," "anticipate,"  "intend,"
"estimate,"  "forecast,"  "project,"  "plan,"  "potential,"   "will,"
"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, dry-docking 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-hires  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


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