Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited (NYSE:NAT) Announces Underwriters' Exercise of Over-allotment Option.

27 januari 2010 Hamilton, Bermuda, January 27, 2010 Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited (the "Company") announced today that, in connection with its previously announced follow-on offering of 4,000,000 common shares, the underwriters have exercised in full the over-allotment option granted to them by the Company.  The Company will sell an additional 600,000 common shares as a result of the over-allotment exercise on the same terms on which the 4,000,000 common shares were sold to the underwriters, resulting in aggregate net proceeds to the Company, before expenses relating to the offering, of approximately $137 million. Morgan Stanley is acting as the bookrunning manager for the offering, and DnB NOR Markets is acting as co-manager of the offering.  The Company expects to close the sale of the 4,600,000 common shares on January 27, 2010, subject to customary closing conditions. After the closing, the Company will have 46,898,782 common shares outstanding. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. The offering is being made by means of a prospectus and related prospectus supplement. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. When available, copies of the prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to the offering may be obtained from the offices of Morgan Stanley at 180 Varick Street, Second Floor, New York, New York 10014, Attention: Prospectus Department or by email atprospectus@morganstanley.com . About the Company The Company is an international tanker company that owns 15 modern double-hull Suezmax tankers and has agreed to acquire an additional three double-hull Suezmax tankers, of which two are newbuilding Suezmax tankers and one is an existing Suezmax tanker. 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.  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, drydocking 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 piracy, accidents or political events, vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hire, failure on the part of a seller to complete a sale to us 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 The Company has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the offering to which this communication relates. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement, the preliminary prospectus supplement relating to this offering and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and this offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC Web site at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the Company, any underwriter or any dealer participating in the offering will arrange to send you the prospectus if you request it by calling toll-free 1-866- 803-9204.  You may also request a copy of these documents by sending an e-mail toir@nat.bm or by accessing the Company's website at www.nat.bm and clicking on "Investor Relations." 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 Web site: www.nat.bm 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 [HUG#1377826]