32 VLCCs to Fly Saudi Arabia’s Flag
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) said that the Public Transport Authority (PTA) has completed the registration of Amjad, a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) owned and operated by Bahri, under the flag of Saudi Arabia.
The announcement comes as part of Bahri’s plans to register all of its 37 VLCCs by the end of 2017, and falls in line with the remarkable shift and growth the transportation sector in the Kingdom has witnessed in the recent past.
This also marks another achievement for PTA as an initiative completed as part of its national transformation program.
Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman Al Omar, Bahri’s CEO, said that the registration of the company’s 37 VLCCs under Saudi Arabian flag is aimed at enhancing the Kingdom’s position in the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) global rank lists and at increasing the size and efficiency of the Saudi maritime fleet.
Presently, Bahri Oil Transportation commercially manages a total of 37 VLCCs, four MRs and one Aframax. Each VLCC has the capacity to carry 2.2 million barrels with a fleet DWT of approximately 11.3 million tonnes. This makes Bahri one of the largest VLCC owners/operators globally.