UASC looks to Cyprus for new ports

— Aims to join shipping ‘big league’

 

The United Arab Shipping Company, ranked the 23rd biggest in the world with a fleet of 33 cargo vessels and nearly 180,000 containers on the move, aims to join the Top Ten league of shipping companies some day, but multi-billion dollar investments are required to reach that stage.

For now, the company that was established in 1976 to look after the shipping and sea transport needs of the Gulf states, seems content with reaching the 20th position in the world, while it seeks to expand its operations and find new partners.

At the same time, the trans-shipment market is constantly on the lookout for new ports with ample capacity, said UASC Vice President for the Middle East region, Waleed Al-Dawood.

Addressing the delegates of the company’s agency meeting held in Limassol, Al-Dawood said that “our aim is to one day reach the Top Ten in the world. We are not too ambitious so as to target the Number 1 position in the world.”

“But in order to rise from 23rd worldwide to 21st we need to invest about one billion dollars and four times that amount to reach the top 14th or 15th place,” he said.

However, turning to Cyprus Transport Minister Haris Thrassou during the dinner on the final evening of the conference, Al-Dawood said that “ports everywhere are too congested. We cannot find enough ports in the eastern Mediterranean region.”

“We at the UASC believe there are ideal opportunities now for smaller ports in the region, such as in Cyprus, to open up and provide their services to companies like ours,” he said.

Echoing the same concerns, UASC Cyprus agent Doros Jeropoulos of S. Ch. Jeropoulos Maritime & Co. said that “although shipping is well developed in Cyprus and the Cyprus flag is well represented, the future lies in transshipment.”

Having been in the transshipment and maritime business for almost 50 years, Jeropoulos said that the Government should look ahead and realize that no shipping line can be interested for Cyprus imports and exports alone, unless combined with transshipments.

Also considering that Mediterranean hubs are already congested, Cyprus could be the solution for reliable lines if a long term investment is considered by the Government of Cyprus. The expected improvements of the port of Limassol are definitely not enough

 

— Top carrier in the region

 

United Arab Shipping Company was jointly established by the six shareholding states of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. and presently has an issued share capital of USD 991 mln.

UASC presently operates multiple weekly services that link some of the major markets in the Far East, the Middle East and Indian Sub Continent, the Mediterranean, North Europe and the US East Coast.

It is one of the largest ocean carriers of dry cargo to the Middle East, Arabian Gulf/ Red Sea and Indian Sub-Continent regions consistently providing first class service to its customers despite the ups and downs in the market. It is now the top carrier both in terms of liner cargo carryings as well as the port coverage in the region.

With an annual turnover in excess of USD 1 bln and total assets of about USD 1 bln, UASC is a financially strong shipping line, capable of maintaining and expanding its stable shipping services to customers worldwide. It has successfully diversified through its subsidiaries and joint ventures to provide a range of services which include shipping agencies, freight forwarding, land transportation, sea/air cargo, petrochemical transportation, chartering, container repairs and storage.

In order to be able to electronically make cargo bookings, track their shipments and eventually also receive electronic bills of lading, UASC joined the INTTRA portal in 2002 as both a member and a shareholder.

UASC presently owns a fleet of 25 ships and operates 33 ships, which are all maintained to the highest industry standards. All UASC vessels are classified as Lloyds X100A1X.

The fleet of container ships includes three A1 Class ships – 1240 TEUS capacity each, nine A2 Class – 2100 TEUS capacity each, and ten larger 22-knot A4 class ships of 49,993 DWT, with 3800 TEUS capacity each. It also has three “K” Class general dry cargo vessels with 23800 DWT capacity.

A further eight ships are managed by other operators. Two vessels of the UASC fleet are operated by Cyprus companies and fly the Cyprus flag.

On the expansion front, UASC is expecting the delivery of eight new 7,000 teu ships during 2008 which will substantially increase the present capacity and creates the opportunity to further expand it’s services.

 

— New SINA service

 

UASC recently announced the start of a new service linking two of the fastest growing export markets, South East Asia and India, Sri Lanka with the Mediterranean Sea and the US East Coast.

The new service, named SINA, has a port rotation of Singapore, Colombo, Nhava Sheva, Pipavav, Port Said, New York, Norfolk, Savannah, Port Said, Jeddah, Colombo and back to Singapore. Transit time in the important Nhava Sheva to New York market is a competitive 18 days.

The SINA service started last November deploying eight vessels in the 3,500 – 4,000 TEU capacity range providing weekly, fixed week-day services. With east- and west-bound calls at Port Said the new service will also provide competitive transit times to and from Egypt and the East Mediterranean markets.