JEDDAH, 6 April 2005 — The United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) transported more than a million containers in addition to 940,000 tons of goods last year making a total revenue of SR3.6 billion ($960 million), according to a top official.
UASC Middle East Vice President Waleed Al-Dawood said UASC has been providing shipping services to the Middle East from all major trading centers including East Asia, Northern Europe and North America.
Addressing a meeting of shipping agents at Inter.Continental Hotel here recently, Al-Dawood also pointed out that the company had ordered eight high-speed ships, each with a capacity of 6,800 containers and a speed of 25.5 knots. “We’ll receive the new ships in 2008,” he added.
UASC, which is owned by Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, has an authorized capital of $1.77 billion. Saudi Arabia owns a little less than 20 percent of its capital. With assets estimated at $1 billion, the company makes an annual turnover of more than $750 million.
Saudi Arabia represented a major market for his company’s services. “Last year we carried more than 120,000 containers to Saudi markets from a total of 832,000 containers shipped to the country. We also transported 48,000 of 287,000 containers carrying Saudi exports,” he explained.
As the national shipping line of the Arabian Gulf states, UASC’s primary mission is to serve the shipping needs of the Arabian Gulf region, Al-Dawood said.
“UASC also aims to expand into global trades to strengthen our operations and provide a wider service network to our customers,” he added.
Recognizing the needs of clients to be able to electronically make cargo bookings, track and trace their shipments and eventually also receive electronic bills of lading, the company joined the INTTRA portal in 2002 as both a member and a shareholder.
“We have adopted a number of measures with the aim of strengthening and integrating our marketing and sales services in the Gulf region. This has enabled us to respond quickly to the requirements of clients,” Al-Dawood said.
UASC’s shipping related services include shipping agencies, freight forwarding, land transportation, sea/air cargo, petrochemical transportation, chartering, container repairs and storage. UASC owns and operates a fleet of 33 ships, Al-Dawood said. “All our vessels are classified as Lloyds X100A1X,” he added.