Bahri confirms VLCC order at International Maritime Industries

Saudi Arabian owner Bahri has officially signed shipbuilding contracts with International Maritime Industries (IMI) for the construction of one 319,000 dwt VLCC, after the signing of an MOU with yard in June.

International Maritime Industries is the new shipbuilding joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Bahri, Lamprell, and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), and is scheduled to open in 2020 and be fully operational by 2022.

IMI will sub-contract the order to HHI, with delivery scheduled in in October 2021.

“This sub-contract award provides many benefits for IMI, including transfer of knowledge from HHI to IMI, a mechanism to grant use of intellectual property (IP) to IMI, development plans for IMI employees to acquire new skills in shipbuilding and planning, as well as technical assistance,” said Fathi K. Al-Saleem, CEO of IMI.

“Bahri is committed to playing a pivotal role in transforming the Kingdom into an important regional and global logistics and transportation hub. Bahri has been exploring new horizons for industry cooperation to take its vision forward. This project award, which further strengthens our strong strategic relationship with IMI and HHI, signifies a major development in this direction; we are confident it will provide a boost to our ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing our offerings and bolstering our capabilities. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will immensely benefit our customers and shareholders,” commented Abdullah Aldubaikhi, CEO of Bahri.

Bahri currently has a fleet 92 vessels including 45 VLCCs.

International Maritime Industries, located in The King Salman Complex for International Maritime Industries & Services at Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia, will be the largest full service maritime facility in the MENA region. The designed annual capacity of the facility will be four newbuild offshore rigs and over 43 newbuild vessels.