October 21 - National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) will begin its first regular liner service from Europe to the Middle East in November 2015.
The service has the following port rotation: Tilbury, UK; Bremerhaven, Germany; Antwerp, Belgium; and Bilbao, Spain; before transiting the Suez Canal to call at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Jebel Ali, UAE; and Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It will then return to Tilbury via an additional call at Jeddah.
Two vessels will be deployed in the new service, with ro-ro ship Bahri Jeddah making the first journey in November. The service will run every 26 days, said the Saudi shipping company.
Bahri explained that although it has stopped on inducement calls in Europe, this is the company's first ever regular liner service to and from the continent; an addition which has been fuelled by growing demand from the region.
An artist's impression of Bahri's vessel design.
