Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE:NAT) - Shareholder Letter. 2018 a year of optimism and a turning point for NAT

Hamilton, Bermuda, January 2, 2018

Dear Shareholder,

We refer to recent contact with shareholders.  We wish to communicate with you the first working day in 2018. Our 30 more or less identical suezmax tankers are all busy, none of them are unemployed.  Currently, 15 of our one million barrel ships are carrying oil East of the Suez Canal and 15 are employed West of the Suez Canal.  Our cooperation with oil companies worldwide is excellent.  Together with shareholders, major oil and energy companies are our most important constituency. They are our close partners.  Being fully financed, three newbuildings will be delivered to NAT in 2018. Going forward, we focus on the present and the future.

In my letter to you of December 18, 2017, (see www.nat.bm), we reviewed the major recapitalization program that NAT has undergone.  This program has a scope of $600 million or more.  During the first half of 2018 at the latest, when the recapitalization program is finalized, NAT will be one of the financially strongest tanker companies listed on Wall Street.  

We expect that 2018 will be a better year for NAT than 2017, providing increased earnings and dividend.  The last ten years the general and administrative costs of NAT have been reduced from about $1 million per ship/per year to about $400,000 per ship/per year. This about 60%  reduction is fortifying our ability to compete effectively, providing a continued low cash breakeven level.

Payment of dividend will continue to be a priority.  In a volatile tanker market, NAT has paid dividends for 81 consecutive quarters since 1997.  

Best regards,

Herbjørn Hansson
Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited

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 worldwide 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:
                           

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