Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT) - (NYSE: NAT) Expands the Fleet to Six Vessels
02 February 2005 - 1:31AM
PR Newswire (US)
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT) - (NYSE: NAT) Expands
the Fleet to Six Vessels HAMILTON, Bermuda, Feb. 1
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the
"Company") today announced that the Company has agreed to acquire a
double hull suezmax vessel presently under construction in Daewoo
shipyard in Korea. The newbuilding is expected to be delivered from
the yard at the end of March this year, after which it is expected
that the vessel will be employed in the spot market. The Company
completed the transformation from a financial lease company into an
operating company in mid October 2004. Since then, the fleet of the
Company has doubled -- from three to six ships -- including the
acquisition of this newbuilding. MAIN DETAILS OF THE FLEET OF THE
COMPANY Original vessels since the formation of the Company: Nordic
Hunter (1997 - 151,458) - spot related contract Nordic Hawk (1997 -
151,458) - spot related contract Gulf Scandic (1997 - 151,458) -
long term contract Ships acquired after the Company became an
operating company in October 2004: Wilma Yangtze (1997 - 149,591) -
spot employment as from February 2005. Acquired in November 2004
Acquisition (1998 - 153.181) - expected spot employment as from end
March 2005. Acquisition announced January 21, 2005 Newbuilding
(2005 - 159,500) - expected spot employment as from end March 2005.
Acquisition announced today It is important to note that the
addition of the top modern newbuilding to the existing fleet will
reduce the average age of the fleet of the Company to 5.7 years --
among the youngest in the tanker industry. The price of the vessel
is USD 81 mill. At this time the Company has an undrawn credit
facility of USD 300 mill. Mr Herbjorn Hansson, Chairman of the
Company, noted that this addition to the fleet represents an
important step in the further development of the Company. He
commented that this transaction is in line with the Company's
growth strategy of accretive acquisitions to bolster dividend and
earnings per share. 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," "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, 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 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 and our Annual Report
on Form 20-F. Contacts: Scandic American Shipping Ltd. Manager for
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. P.O Box 56 3201 Sandefjord,
Norway Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail: Web-site: http://www.nat.bm/
Rolf Amundsen Chief Financial Officer Nordic American Tanker
Shipping Ltd. Tel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906 Gary Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA Tel: +1 212 574 1223
Herbjorn Hansson Chairman & CEO Nordic American Tanker Shipping
Ltd. Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 901 46 291 DATASOURCE: Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Ltd. CONTACT: Scandic American Shipping
Ltd., Manager for Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd.,
+47-33-42-73-00, ; or Rolf Amundsen, Chief Financial Officer,
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd., +1-800-601-9079 or
+47-908-26-906; or Gary Wolfe, Seward & Kissel LLP, New York,
USA, +1-212-574-1223; or Herbjorn Hansson, Chairman & CEO,
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd., +1-866-805-9504 or
+47-901-46-291 Web site: http://www.nat.bm/
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