NSCSA wins contracts, expanding fleet

   National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) signed a contract last month with Qatar Aluminum Company (QATALUM) to transport aluminum from Qatar to the United States. Saleh Al-Jasser, the CEO of NSCSA said the aluminum will be carried on each voyage of the company vessels for a period of one year. The estimated value of the contract is 50.6 million Saudi riyals ($13.5 million). QATALUM has an option to extend the contract by another year.
   Prior signing the contract, NSCSA transported 15 trial shipments of aluminum from Mesaieed in Qatar to Houston, Baltimore and Savannah
   It is also possible NSCSA will move other aluminum shipments for QATALUM from Qatar to Turkey and Italy. 
   NSCSA is expanding the number of a new generation of multipurpose ships it is building.
   The company, whose general agent NSCSA (America) Inc. is based in Baltimore, currently operates a fleet of four 42,000 dwt multipurpose ships capable of carrying both containers and roll-on, roll-off cargo in a liner service between the Arabian Gulf, Indian Sub-Continent, Red Sea, Mediterranean, and the East Coast of US and Canada, and the U.S. Gulf.
   NSCSA said last year that those ships, built in 1982 and 1983, were nearing the end of their useful life and announced plans to build four 26,000 dwt multipurpose ships that will carry containers and ro/ro cargo and will also be equipped with heavylift cranes. The ships are being built at the Hyundai Mipo yard.
   The company now plans to build six of the ships at a cost of 1.54 billion Saudi riyals ($411 million). According to the company’s annual report, four of the ships are expected to be delivered in December 2013 and two in 2014.
   NSCSA last year also signed a contract for a value of 230 million Saudi Riyals ($61.3 million) to provide transportation and logistics services to the Saudi Ministry of Defense for three years duration.
   According to its website, NSCSA also owns and operates 17 Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and owns a 30.3 percent share of Petredec Ltd., which is the leading company in LPG transportation in the world. It also owns a fleet of 19 chemical carriers through its subsidiary the National Chemical Carriers, which was established in partnership with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation and has become one of the largest companies of the world in this field.