UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
FORM
6-K
REPORT
OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16
OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the
month of April 2010
Commission
File Number: 001-162171
|
NORDIC
AMERICAN TANKER SHIPPING LIMITED
|
|
(Translation
of registrant's name into English)
|
|
LOM
Building, 27 Reid Street, Hamilton, HM 11, Bermuda
|
|
(Address
of principal executive office)
|
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F
[x] Form 40-F
[ ]
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): [ ].
Note: Regulation S-T Rule
101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely
to provide an attached annual report to security holders.
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): [ ].
Note: Regulation S-T Rule
101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to
furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer
must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the
registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrant's
"home country"), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the
registrant's securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is
not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the
registrant's security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already
been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on
EDGAR.
INFORMATION
CONTAINED IN THIS FORM 6-K REPORT
Attached
as Exhibit 1 is a press release of Nordic American Tanker Shipping Limited (the
"Company"), dated April 12, 2010, announcing that the Company has
entered into a preliminary agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries for the
building of two new suezmax tankers.
This
Report on Form 6-K except the paragraph beginning "Herbjorn Hansson, the
Chairman and CEO of the Company, stated" is hereby incorporated by
reference into the Company's Registration Statement on Form F-3 ASR
(Registration No. 333-162171) filed on September 28, 2009 and Form
F-3ASR (Registration No. 333-158212) filed on March 26, 2009.
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: April
13, 2010
|
By:
|
/s/
Herbjørn Hansson
|
|
Herbjørn
Hansson
Chairman,
Chief Executive Officer and
President
|
Exhibit
1
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Limited (NYSE:NAT) – Increasing the Fleet to 20
Vessels. Letter of Intent Agreed with Samsung Heavy Industries for the Building
of Two New Suezmax Tankers.
Hamilton,
Bermuda, April 12th,
2010
Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Limited (the "Company") today announced that it has
entered into a preliminary agreement with Samsung Heavy Industries
Co., Ltd. ("Samsung"), a leading Korean shipyard, to build two suezmax tankers
of 158,000 deadweight tons each to be delivered to the Company in the third
and fourth quarters of 2011. The purchase prices of the two newbuilding
vessels are $64.5/$65.0m, with about half to be paid on the signature
of the definitive contracts and the balance to be paid on delivery. The
advance payments will be guaranteed by a first class financial
institution. The acquisitions will be financed by resources of the
Company. There are no plans for a follow-on equity offering in connection with
either these two 2011 newbuldings or the previously announced two newbuildings
scheduled to be delivered to us later this year.
Assuming
no other acquisitions or dispositions, the delivery of the newbuildings will
increase the Company's fleet to 20 modern double hull suezmax tankers by the end
of 2011. In January 2009, the Company had 12 trading suezmax tankers. At the end
of 2011 the trading fleet of the Company is expected to reach 20 suezmax tankers
- or an increase of 67% over a period of 36 months. During the same period, the
Company's share count is expected to have increased by about 36% assuming
that no further acquisitions or follow-on equity offerings are made in the
meantime. The definitive contracts with Samsung are expected to
be signed at the end of April or in early May 2010.
Herbjørn
Hansson, the Chairman and CEO of the Company, stated: "This is an important step
forward in the organic growth of our company. By adding two more ships
to our fleet, we will increase our dividend capacity and bolster our earnings
potential. Our strong balance sheet enables us to contract for these two
newbuildings from Samsung. Our dividend policy remains the same as in the past -
a full pay out model. We already have 7 vessels built by Samsung in our
fleet".
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 Tanker Shipping Limited
P.O Box
56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway
Tel: + 47
33 42 73 00 E-mail: nat@scandicamerican.com
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