UASC looks to boost fleet with new Korea orders

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Dec 2007

United Arab Shipping Company, which has operations in Qatar, has commenced construction of its sixth high speed container ship MV Jazan. Jazan is being constructed under an order placed by UASC with a Korean shipbuilder for eight container ships. UASC had signed contract to build the ships, each of 6,919 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at a cost of $850mn.  All eight ships under the contract will be completed and delivered in 2008. The names of the other ships on order are MV Al Safat, MV Hatta, MV Al Bahia, MV Mayssan, MV Al Manamah, MV Al Hilal and MV Al Rawdah.These ships will be fully compliant with the latest International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) regulations regarding pollution. They can attain speed exceeding 25 knots.MV Jazan will bear the Saudi Arabian flag and will be delivered in July, 2008. UASC said the eight new container ships will help it cope with expanding trade and customer demands. UASC's existing fleet consists of 35 owned and chartered vessels. UASC’s container box fleet has touched 200,000 TEUs.UASC operates on shipping routes connecting North America, Europe, the Mediterranean, Far East, South America, GCC, Red Sea and the subcontinent. UASC was established in 1976 with its head office in Kuwait.