April 24 - The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) has responded to what it calls a 'tumultuous' marketplace by reinventing itself as Bahri.
Launching the new brand at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh earlier this month, Bahri chief executive Saleh Al Jassersaid: "The business landscape is changing at a tumultuous pace and requires nothing short of reinventing ourselves to be agile and responsive to the critical needs of our stakeholders in the national, regional and global arena."
Formed as a national carrier in 1979, Bahri today owns and operates 19 chemical tankers, 17 VLCCs and four general cargo ro-ro ships, on which it carries project cargoes including oil and gas equipment. It expects a number of new vessels to join the fleet by 2014.
The company remains 28 percent owned by the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi government and will continue as the national flag carrier for the kingdom.
All existing agreements and contracts would be honoured while sailings, schedules and ports of call would not change, Bahri said.
