FORM 6-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the month of March 2006
NORDIC AMERICAN TANKER SHIPPING LIMITED
(Translation of registrant's name into English)
Reid House
31 Church Street
Hamilton HM FX
Bermuda
(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual
reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F [X] Form 40-F [ ]
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the
commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes [_] No [X]
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS FORM 6-K REPORT
Attached hereto is a copy of the press release issued by Nordic American
Tanker Shipping Limited on February 27, 2006, announcing the expansion of its
fleet and the public offering of its common shares.
[GRAPHIC OMITTED]
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NAT) - (NYSE: NAT) Announces Expansion of
the Fleet and Public Offering of Common Shares
Hamilton, Bermuda, February 27, 2006
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the "Company") today announced that the
Company has agreed to acquire a double hull Suezmax vessel of 157,332 dwt built
in Korea in 1998, for a price of $69 million. The vessel is expected to be
delivered from the seller to the Company in early April 2006. This acquisition
will increase the NAT fleet to 9 vessels with an aggregate capacity of 1,383,491
dwt.
The vessel is expected to be employed in the spot market, thus increasing the
number of the Company's ships in the spot market from seven to eight Suezmax
tankers. The Company's remaining Suezmax is employed on a long term contract.
In conjunction with this acquisition, the Company also announced today that it
is commencing a public offering of 3,750,000 common shares pursuant to the
Company's effective shelf registration statement. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and
UBS Investment Bank will act as joint bookrunning managers and DnB NOR Markets,
Inc. will act as a co-manager. The Company will grant the underwriters an option
to purchase an additional 562,500 common shares to cover any over-allotments,
exercisable within 30 days.
The net proceeds of this offering are expected to be used to finance the
acquisition of the Company's ninth Suezmax tanker and an additional tanker that
the Company is presently planning to acquire later this year in line with the
Company's policy of accretive growth and of maintaining indebtedness in the
region of $15 million per vessel in the current market conditions.
The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus and related prospectus
supplement. A prospectus supplement related to the offering has been 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 Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. at 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York
10179, Attention: Prospectus Department and UBS Investment Bank at 299 Park
Avenue, New York, New York 10171, Attention: Syndicate Desk.
The Company is an international tanker company that owns eight double-hull
Suezmax tankers. The Company expects to take delivery of the additional Suezmax
tanker it has agreed to purchase in early April 2006.
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-hire, failure on the
part of a seller to complete a sale to us 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 Tanker Shipping Ltd.
P.O Box 56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway
Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00 E-mail: nat@scandicamerican.com
Web-site: www.nat.bm
Rolf Amundsen, Investor Relations
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
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
NORDIC AMERICAN TANKER SHIPPING LIMITED
(registrant)
Dated: March 2, 2006 By: /s/ Herbjorn Hansson
--------------------
Herbjorn Hansson
Chairman, Chief Executive
Officer and President
SK 01318 0002 647609