insane dividends

[wzebra33]

Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT)

1st Quarter 2010 Results: http://hugin.info/201/R/1413924/365396.pdf

Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. ("NAT" or "the Company") today announced that the dividend for 1Q10 was $0.60 per share compared with $0.25 per share for 4Q09. Two newbuildings are expected to join the fleet in 2010 and two newbuildings in 2011, bringing the trading fleet of NAT to minimum 20 ships during 2011. No follow-on offering is contemplated to fund these newbuildings.

The Company will pay the dividend on or about June 1, 2010, to shareholders of record as of May 19, 2010. Following this dividend payment, the Company will have paid a dividend for 51 consecutive quarters since the autumn of 1997 when the first three vessels in the Company's fleet were delivered. Including the dividend for 1Q10 the total dividends paid by the Company amount to $40.74 per share. The increased dividend for 1Q10 is a result of a strengthening of the spot tanker market for suezmax tankers during the first quarter of 2010.