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HAMILTON, Bermuda, June 4, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nordic American Tankers Limited ("NAT" or the "Company") today announced that the Company has agreed to acquire two Suezmax vessels, delivered from a top shipyard in 2005. The agreed purchase price is $36.5 million each. The vessels are expected to be delivered to us no later than August, 2014. The acquisitions will be financed from the financial resources of the Company.
Including the delivery of the current acquisitions, NAT will have a fleet of 22 Suezmax vessels - enhancing our dividend and earnings capacity.
The acquired vessels are essentially sister ships to other vessels in our current fleet. It is of significant importance to have more or less identical vessels in the fleet both from an operational and cost synergy point of view. The vessels were built to high technical specifications. Our focus on safety for crew, vessels and the environment will never cease. NAT is a company built on quality in all respects.
The acquisition represents a natural step in the further development of NAT. The Company will seek to increase its dividend and earnings capacity through further expansion, when the time is right. We believe that our strong balance sheet, well defined and transparent operating model provide the Company with a strong competitive position.
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.
| Contacts: |
| Scandic American Shipping Ltd |
| Manager for: |
| Nordic American Tankers Limited |
| P.O Box 56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway |
| Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail: nat@scandicamerican.com |
| Jacob Ellefsen, |
| Manager, Investor Relations and Research, Monaco |
| Nordic American Tankers Limited |
| Tel: + 377 93 25 89 07 or + 33 678 631 959 |
| Rolf Amundsen, Advisor, Norway |
| Nordic American Tankers Limited |
| Tel: +1 800 601 9079 or + 47 908 26 906 |
| Turid M. Sørensen, CFO & EVP, Norway |
| Nordic American Tankers Limited |
| Tel: +47 33 42 73 00 or +47 90 57 29 27 |
| Gary J. Wolfe |
| Seward & Kissel LLP, New York, USA |
| Tel: +1 212 574 1223 |
