Nordic American Tankers Limited Announces 5.5M Share Public Offering

Nordic American Tankers Limited (NYSE: NAT) (the "Company") today announced an underwritten public offering of 5,500,000 common shares. The common shares are being offered pursuant to the Company's effective shelf registration statement. The net proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to strengthen the Company's resources, to fund future acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. We are actively reviewing acquisition possibilities on an ongoing basis. The Company is determined to pursue its strategy of accretive growth. The Company's current fleet consists of 20 double-hull Suezmax tankers.

The average daily spot market rate earned for the Company's vessels during the third quarter of 2011 was about $8,000 per day. The Company expects to achieve a spot market rate of about $11,000 per day for the fourth quarter of 2011 which is in line with our cash break-even level. The Company believes that the spot tanker market has improved during the month of December 2011 and that such improvement has continued into January 2012. From January 1, 2012 through January 17, 2012 the Company has covered about 25% of the total revenue days for the first quarter 2012. During this period the Company has achieved an average spot market rate in excess of $20,000 per day. There is no guarantee that future rates will equal or exceed this amount.

The daily rates as reported by shipbrokers, by Imarex or by analysts may vary significantly from the actual rates the Company achieves in the market. As a matter of policy the Company does not attempt to predict future spot rates.