MUSCAT: Ten new medium range product tankers will join the fleet of state-owned Oman Shipping Company (OSC) in the next one year, taking the total strength of the fleet to 53 from 43 now.
According to the chief executive officer of Oman Shipping Company Tarik Mohammed Al Junaidi, the company will receive all 10 vessels between November this year and November 2016. The new vessels will be managed by Oman Ship Management Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oman Shipping Company.
Al Junaidi said these ships are manufactured in South Korea by Hyundai. He said that about 2 years ago, Oman Shipping secured a deal with Shell for offering 10 mid-range product carriers. “These vessels carry refined petroleum products and the first delivery is going to be in November this year,” added Al Junaidi.
The total project cost for the ten vessels is approximately $320 million. And as much as 80 per cent of the funding will be by way of term lending from financial institutions.
He said the aggregate capacity of Oman Shipping’s fleet will go up to 8.5 million deadweight tonnes (DWT), once the new ships join the fleet, from eight million deadweight tonnes now. “Each mid-range tanker has deadweight of 50,000 tonnes.”
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