Hamilton, Bermuda, January 21, 2010

Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited (the "Company") today announced an
underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 common shares.  The common shares are
being offered pursuant to the Company's effective shelf registration
statement.  The proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to fund future
acquisitions and for general corporate purposes.

As of January 20, 2010, the Company owned or agreed to acquire 18 modern
double-hull Suezmax tankers, including one secondhand vessel that we have agreed
to acquire and expect to take delivery of no later than March 1, 2010 and two
newbuildings that we expect to take delivery of in 2010. The proceeds of the
offering announced today, together with other financing sources available to the
Company, are expected to enable the Company to make accretive acquisitions,
based on present asset prices, of at least four additional vessels.

Morgan Stanley is acting as the bookrunning manager for the offering and DnB NOR
Markets, Inc. is acting as co-manager of the offering.   The Company has granted
the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 600,000 additional shares to
cover over-allotments.

The common shares purchased by the underwriters are expected to be offered for
resale from time to time in negotiated transactions or otherwise, at market
prices on the New York Stock Exchange prevailing at the time of sale, at prices
related to such prevailing market prices or otherwise.  On January 20, 2010, the
closing price of the Company's common shares on the New York Stock Exchange was
$33.74per share.

The Company also announced that it expects its dividend per share in respect of
the fourth quarter of 2009 to be in the region of $0.23 per share compared to a
dividend of $0.10 per share for the the third quarter of 2009. This estimate is
based on fourth quarter 2009 charter rates for the Company's vessels and
estimated levels of operating costs. The estimated dividend per share in respect
of the fourth quarter of 2009 is calculated based on a weighted average of
42,204,904 common shares outstanding during the fourth quarter of 2009.  The
Company expects to pay the same dividend per share in respect of the fourth
quarter of 2009 for the shares sold in this offering.

Please see "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements" for
additional assumptions on which these estimates are based.

The average spot market rate for modern Suezmax tankers as reported by IMAREX
was $13,012 per day in the third quarter of 2009 and was $23,682 per day during
the fourth quarter of 2009. Generally, there is a certain time lag between the
actual rates earned by the Company's vessels and those rates quoted by IMAREX.
 The average spot market rates  so far in 2010 are well above the rates for the
fourth quarter of 2009.

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," "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, 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 atwww.sec.gov
<http://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 to ir@nat.bm  or by
accessing the Company's website at www.nat.bm <http://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 <http://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





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