Oman Shipping planning to buy its first containerships

Oman Shipping is planning to enter the containership owning sector through the acquisition of two containerships, replacing ships it currently has on charter

According to Times of Oman, Tarik Mohammed Al Junaidi, CEO of Oman Shipping, said the company is looking to take advantage of current low asset vales to­ acquire two secondhand containerships with a capacity of 3,000 teu each.

Oman Shipping, which mainly focuses on tanker shipping, currently operates the feeder container service Oman Express which connects Jebel Ali, Sohar, Duqm and Salalah, with a chartered vessel of 2,500 teu capacity and the Gulf Express service between Jebel Ali and Sohar, using a multipurpose chartered vessel, which can carry 400 teu and project cargo.

Oman Shipping  has a fleet of 51 vessels including oil tankers, LPG tankers, LNG carriers and bulkers. Its move to acquire containerships follows Norwegian LNG and offshore owner Awilco debuting as a non-vessel operating owner by snapping up a number of panamaxes.