The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, after having come a long way to become a diversified shipping company by expanding its activities from Ro Ro / Bulk conventional carriage to chemicals and crude oil transportation.

NSCSA, the national flag carrier of Saudi Arabia was incorporated as a Saudi joint stock company by a royal decree in October 1979.
The company has a fully paid up capital of SR2 billion of which the Government of Saudi Arabia (Public Investment Fund) owns 28.8per cent. The remaining 71.2per cent of the capital is owned by Private Sector Saudi Companies and Saudi Nationals.
With a humble beginning in 1980 with Ro Ro ships, transporting Ro Ro, Break Bulk, Projects and Containers, NSCSA diversified in to Chemical Carriers in 1985 and Crude Oil Carriers in 1996. The company presently owns 9 modern VLCCs (all double hulled), 20 chemical products tankers and 4 multipurpose Ro-Ro vessels.
In 1997, NSCSA created its own ship management company as a joint venture and a container repair yard at Jeddah. In order to support and service the Saudi Arabian trade, NSCSA then further expanded in to Freight Forwarding/NVOCC business in 2002.
Crude Oil Transportation
NSCSA, in 1996-97, entered the crude oil transportation market by taking delivery of five newly built double hull VLCCs from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan. Then in 2001-02, NSCSA acquired four more double hull VLCC’s built by Samsung Heavy Industries to make the total (nine) with a capacity of 2.1 million barrels each (300,000dwt) having state-of-the-art specifications. The company operates these VLCCs in both spot and time charter markets.
The company succeeded in a short time to carve a niche for itself based on its reliability, efficiency and commercially oriented approach to business. This is translated to signing contracts i.e. time charter, contract of affreightment or spot voyages with oil major companies such as Saudi Aramco, ChevronTexaco, Shell, ExxonMobil and others.
Petrochemicals Transportation
In 1985 the firm ventured for the first time into petrochemicals, acquiring a 43,000 dwt tanker (Uqba Ibn Nafi). A year later, NSCSA and Kuwait’s United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) teamed up to form Arabian Chemical Carriers (ACC), which owns and operates a 41,400 dwt chemical products tanker (AI-Farabi).
With the Kingdom’s petrochemicals industry expanding and exports rising throughout the 1980s, NSCSA intensified its efforts on this front by setting up an 80:20 joint venture, National Chemical Carriers Ltd Co (NCC) with Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). The new business proved a success. Since NCC began operations in 1990, its fleet has risen from 9 to 18 tankers, including six new building orders of 46,200 dwt each, signed in 2003 with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard of South Korea.
The total investment of the new ships will be approximately SR.800 million. Delivery of the vessels will commence from November 2005 until December 2006.
Liner Service
NSCSA presently offers Liner Service by operating 4 owned Ro Ro/Conventional/Container vessels in the Arabian Gulf-US(Gulf) trade route, whch includes the Indian Sub Continent, Red Sea, Mediterranean, and US/Canada (East Coast) on a 21 day frequency. The versatility of the vessels make them highly suited for serving the trade, catering to Ro Ro, Break-Bulk, Projects, Military and containerised cargoes.
NSCSA foresees a continued demand for specialised Ro Ro-cum-Container vessels in the trade in terms of industrialisation in the Middle East and continued infrastructure development. Various options are being reviewed to upgrade the service.
Freight Forwarding / NVOCC Services
NSCA, in the year 2002, established a Global Freight Forwarding and NVOCC business mainly to serve the customers with a comprehensive coverage for logistical and distribution network that include packaging, warehousing/storage, ocean/land transportation, documentation and custom clearance. With the present infrastructure and investment in NSCSA Information Technology, own container yard / a fleet of owned containers; and own offices and agencies worldwide, NSCSA is able to meet its commitments, besides offering a reliable and cost effective services to customers.
Container Services Yard
NSCSA, in 1997, invested in on-land facilities, including a container storage and repair yard (having an area of 120,000 sq m) in Jeddah Islamic Port, the most significant in the Kingdom, to promote better customer services and to minimize loading, handling and operational cost related to import/export units. A specialised workshop in the yard takes up repair jobs and refurbishes containers according to international standards.
Ship Management
NSCSA, in 1997, established a ship management company in the name of “Mideast Ship Management Ltd (MSML)”. The vision was to have professionally qualified ship manager who would fulfill the requirements of the ship owners.
MSML was set-up as a joint venture company between NSCSA with 80 per cent share and the Acomarit Group of Scotland holding the balance 20per cent stake. MSML is managing a number of vessels which include crude oil, chemical product carriers and roll-on / roll-off ships. MSML has implemented a strategy to achieve its goal fully.
MSML’s Quality Management System (QMS) is accredited to the standard of ISO-9002, ISM and SEP by DNV and Lloyds.