The National Chemical Carriers Company (NCC) will transport Sabic petrochemical liquids to international destinations following a charter agreement it signed recently.

Under the agreement NCC signed with Sabic subsidiary International Shipping and Transportation Company, three NCC chemical tankers will be deployed for the transportation over a five-year period with an option of extension for another five years. 

Abdullah S Al Rubaian, NCC chairman, signed on behalf of his company while Yousuf A Al Zamil, executive vice president of Sabic, signed on behalf of International Shipping and Transport as its representative.

Al Rubaian said these agreements achieve one of the most important goals of the company which is to contribute to the development of the national economy and keep pace with the expansion of Saudi exports of petrochemicals.

“NCC is proud to provide a world-class standard and specialised modern carriers to transport Sabic’s liquid petrochemicals, including a huge chemical tanker which is the largest of its kind in the world and built to the latest technology this industry has in terms of size, engineering, equipment and design,” said Al Rubaian.

He further stated that the signing of such contracts was in line with the company’s strategy to do business on a long-term time charter agreements allowing the parties concerned to plan over a long period to derive the most from the investment, operations and management.

The company recently achieved distinct success in petrochemical transportation because of the diversification of carriers in terms of size and specifications, he added.

Meanwhile, NCC announced it has received in Korea a new chemical tanker named NCC Najem from SHINAsb (previously SLS) of South Korea. The tanker is part of nine vessels previously contracted by NCC from the yard during the 2006-2007 period for a total value of approximately SR1,722 million.

NCC Najem has deadweight of 45,000 tonnes with DNV classification and full IMO 2 notations. Cargo capacity is 53,200 cu m comprising 22 zinc/epoxy coated cargo tanks with 20 full segregations.

The vessel will be commercially operated by NCC Odfjell Chemical Tankers JLT, located in Dubai and owned jointly by NCC and Odfjell SE of Norway. The firm commenced operations in January 2010.

NCC has an additional three vessels under construction at SHINAsb for a value of SR585 million with deliveries expected during 2012. The company has one large chemical tanker of 75,000 dwt, to be constructed at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co at the price of SR247 million for delivery during 2013.

NCC currently operates a fleet of 20 vessels specialised in transporting chemicals, vegoils and clean petroleum products with dwt capacity of nearly 900,000 tonnes. The fleet will grow to 25 vessels and 1.1 million dwt by 2013.

NCC was founded in 1990 as a limited liability company with a capital of SR610 million ($162.2 million). It is 80 per cent owned by the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) with Sabic holding the remainder shares.