Qualified to ISO9002 and IMO Safety Management Code, KOTC was formed in 1957 by a group of investors who envisaged the importance of sea transport to the development of the oil industry.

The government of Kuwait took a 49 per cent share in the company in 1976, taking full control in 1979. When KPC was formed in 1980, KOTC became the transport arm of the Corporation.

KOTC owns and manages crude tankers, and vessels for refined petroleum products and LPGs.

A fleet of VLCCs provides the commercial push for KPC's oil exports, and this access for KPC provides the Corporation with a market advantage in smaller markets where flexible storage may be required.

Over the years, the KOTC fleet has been modernised and developed to meet KPC's strategic export requirements. With a young fleet, KOTC is at the cutting edge of technical progress, and says that it is able to adhere strictly to international maritime legislation for vessel design and operational strategies.

The fully-coated cargo tanks of the Very Large Product and Crude Carriers enable them to carry more than one type of product at a time, thus offering cost efficiencies.

The fleet is one of the largest in the world, capable of a combined lifting capacity of around four million tonnes.

In addition to moving nearly 25 per cent of KPC's delivered sales, KOTC continues to charter its tankers on the world market: the integrated operation minimises logistical costs for the whole group.

The tankers are designed, equipped and maintained to the highest standards with the latest technology to ensure safe and efficient operation. To this end, each vessel has a Crisis Response Policy and more than half the fleet complies with the rigorous requirements of OPA90, US legislation which means that these vessels can trade with the US.

A KOTC Marine Agency Branch, established in 1959, services foreign tankers calling a Kuwait's seaports.

KOTC also operates a domestic franchise for the filling, marketing and distribution of LPG cylinders supplied by KOC as a household fuel.

KOTC commissioned its first centre for LPG operations in 1962. Facilities were subsequently expanded, and then a second, automated plant built at Mina Abdulla, which came online in 1985 with a capacity of 15 million cylinders per year.

By sponsoring marine scholarships and internal and external training courses in shipping science and marine engineering, KOTC says that it invests to maintain its own high standards of tanker fleet services, the skill levels of its workforce and, crucially, those of its highly-trained Kuwaitis capable of filling future positions of responsibility within the company.