Dry CargoMiddle East

Oman Shipping chases aggregates business

Oman Shipping Company is looking at adding up to 10 bulk carriers as it chases a greater market share of the aggregates business.

Speaking with the Times of Oman, Tarik Mohammed Al Junaidi, CEO of the state-run line, said aggregate exports from the Middle East were growing fast.

“That is an area we want to capture. We are now exporting small cargoes and that is not enough. We want to get into a bigger scale,” he said, adding that he would look to add anywhere from two to 10 ships for this trade depending on how much business his company was able to capture.

Al Junaidi also confirmed plans to acquire two container vessels to replace current ships currently chartered in. OSC is looking for secondhand container vessels, each with a capacity of around 3,000 teu.

Oman Shipping is one of the Middle East’s largest lines with a fleet of 51 ships equating to a combined capacity of 8m dwt.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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