Nordic American Tankers Ltd. (NYSE

NAT) – Dividend declaration for the second quarter of 2020

May 20, 2020

Dear Shareholders and Investors,

Dividend is a priority for NAT. On March 24, 2020, we declared the dividend for the first quarter of 2020 to 14 cents ($0.14) per share, with record date Monday May 26, 2020 and payment date June 5, 2020.

In view of the solid position of the company and the prospects as explained in our first quarter report of 2020 two days ago (May 18), the Board has today decided to declare the dividend for the second quarter of 2020 to 20 cents ($0.20) to be paid on Friday September 4th 2020 to shareholders on record Friday August 28th. This is a 42% increase from the dividend that was declared for the first quarter of 2020.

With this quarterly dividend of 20 cents for the second quarter of 2020, the accumulated declared cash dividend for the first two quarters of 2020 is 34 cents ($0.34) per share. This amount of 34 cents is paid to shareholders over a period of less than 4 months. Our earnings report for the second quarter of 2020 will be published Monday August 17, 2020 before NYSE opening.

 

 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.

NAT is a Bermuda based company.

Contacts:       

Gary J. Wolfe
Seward & Kissel LLP
New York, USA
Tel: [phone]

Bjørn Giæver, CFO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: [phone] or [phone]       

Herbjørn Hansson, Chairman & CEO
Nordic American Tankers Limited
Tel: [phone] or [phone]