Hamilton, Bermuda, January 5th, 2009.

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

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

This acquisition will increase the Company's fleet to 15 double-hullSuezmax vessels, including the two previously announced newbuildingsthe Company has agreed to acquire. These newbuildings are expected tobe 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 unusedcredit line of $500 million. The acquisition is expected to befinanced from out of the Company's financial resources.

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

Typically, based on the dividend model of the Company, also goingforward the dividend can be expected to show volatility of the samenature as the spot Suezmax tanker market rates. The Companyannounced that its dividend per share for the 4th quarter of 2008 isexpected to be approximately $0.85 per share. The dividend for thecomparable period of 2007 was $0.50 per share. The average charterrate level for the Company's trading spot fleet, including offhiredays, is estimated to be in the range of $40,000 per day per vesselfor the 4th quarter of 2008. In the 4th quarter of 2008 the fleet ofthe Company had 35 days offhire due to unscheduled repairs during thequarter. The spot rate contracts entered into for 2009 at the timeof this writing are well above the level achieved on average for the4th quarter of 2008.

As a matter of policy, the Company does not predict future spotrates. The Company is not involved in derivative contracts of anynature.

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

"The acquisition of this high quality vessel will increase thedividend and earnings capacity of the Company and we expect thisacquisition to be accretive. Further acquisitions are underplanning. We are continuously working to enhance the Company'sability to pay quarterly dividends based upon the Company's dividendmodel which we expect will continue. The Company has now paiddividends for 45 consecutive quarters. We believe that our strongbalance sheet, well defined and transparent operating model providethe Company with a solid competitive position going forward."

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constituteforward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation ReformAct of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-lookingstatements in order to encourage companies to provide prospectiveinformation about their business. Forward-looking statements includestatements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, futureevents or performance, and underlying assumptions and otherstatements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisionsof the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and isincluding this cautionary statement in connection with this safeharbor legislation. This press release and any other written or oralstatements made by us or on our behalf may include forward-lookingstatements which reflect our views with respect to future events andfinancial performance. The words "believe," "anticipate," "intend,""estimate," "forecast," "project," "plan," "potential," "will,""may," "should," "expect," "pending" and similar expressions identifyforward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based uponvarious assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon furtherassumptions, including without limitation, our management'sexamination of historical operating trends, data contained in ourrecords and other data available from third parties. Although webelieve that these assumptions were reasonable when made, becausethese assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertaintiesand contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict andare beyond our control, we cannot assure you that we will achieve oraccomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. We undertakeno obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as aresult of new information, future events or otherwise.

Important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results todiffer materially from those discussed in the forward-lookingstatements include the strength of world economies and currencies,general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter ratesand vessel values, changes in demand in the tanker market, as aresult of changes in OPEC's petroleum production levels and worldwide oil consumption and storage, changes in our operating expenses,including bunker prices, dry-docking and insurance costs, the marketfor our vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changesin governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatoryauthorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation,general domestic and international political conditions, potentialdisruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events,vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other importantfactors described from time to time in the reports filed by theCompany with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including theprospectus and related prospectus supplement, our Annual Report onForm 20-F, and our reports on Form 6-K.

Contacts:Scandic American Shipping LtdManager for:Nordic American Tanker Shipping LimitedP.O Box 56, 3201 Sandefjord, NorwayTel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail: nat@scandicamerican.comRolf Amundsen, Investor RelationsNordic American Tanker Shipping LimitedTel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906Gary J. WolfeSeward & Kissel LLP, New York, USATel: +1 212 574 1223Turid M. Sørensen, CFONordic American Tanker Shipping LimitedTel: + 47 33 42 73 00 or + 47 905 72 927Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerNordic American Tanker Shipping LimitedTel: +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 901 46 291

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