The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) has posted a net profit of SR 188.9 million in the first half of 2004 as compared to SR 102.9 million in the same period of 2003, proving the firm’s continued strength as it celebrates its Silver Jubilee.

The firm was incorporated as a Saudi Joint Stock Company by a Royal Decree in October, 1979 and is the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is presently celebrating its 25th Silver Jubilee.
NSCSA has fully paid up capital of SR2 billion, 29 per cent of which is owned by the Saudi Government and the remaining by leading Saudi businessmen and citizens. 
NSCSA owns 9 VLCCs, 20 chemical tankers (including 6 under construction) and 4 multi-purpose RoRo vessels.
Since starting Container-RoRo service in 1980, NSCSA has diversified its activities by entering into petrochemical transportation in 1985.  During 1995-1996 the Company stepped up crude oil transportation.  In 1997 NSCSA established its own Ship Management Company in Dubai and also a Container Service Yard at Jeddah Islamic Port.
During 2002, NSCSA further expanded its activities into Freight Forwarding / NVOCCs services and making rapid strides since then.
NSCSA has been playing a significant role in the transportation of project cargoes contributing to the regions’ infrastructure development and related requirement of specialist cargo transportation for oil fields, petrochemical and construction industries.
During 1996-1997, NSCSA entered into crude oil transportation by taking delivery of five newly built double-hull VLCCs from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan.  4 more double-hull VLCCs built by Samsung Heavy Industries, Korea were acquired in 2001-2002.   With the 9 VLCCs having an aggregate capacity of about 19 million barrels and a dead-weight of over 300,000 tonnes each and with state-of-the-art technology, NSCSA has joined the elite group of Companies at the top of the crude oil transportation arena.   The Company’s VLCCs are currently operating both on time-charter as well as spot market.
The Company has entered into time-charter and spot charter arrangements with Vela International (a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco), ChevronTexaco, Shell, ExxonMobile, Tankers International etc. 
In 1985, NSCSA acquired Uqba Ibn Nafe, 43,000 dead weight tonne (dwt) tanker.  A year later i.e. in 1986, NSCSA and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) of Kuwait jointly established Arabian Chemical Carriers (ACC) with 50-50 participation by acquiring 44,400 dwt chemical product tanker Al-Farabi.
The National Chemical Carriers Ltd Co. (NCC), a joint venture Company was established jointly by NSCSA and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) with both having 80:20 participation.
New builds
Since started operation in 1990, NCC’s fleet has steadily increased from 9 to 18 which include 6 newbuildings ordered in 2003 with Hyundai Mipo of South Korea. 
The 6 new vessels, expected to be delivered between 2005 and 2006, will be chartered out to SABIC under long term agreement.    With the delivery of the new vessels, the carrying capacity of NCC fleet will be about 600,000 tonnes. 
NCC’s vessels are being maintained by Odfjell Seachem, Norway except three vessels which are managed by MSML, a subsidiary of NSCSA.
NSCSA is presently operating its Liner Services with the 4 Ro-Ro Multipurpose vessels between AG - Indian Sub-Continent - Red Sea - Mediterranean - US/Canada (East Coast) - US (Gulf) ports with 21 days’ frequency.   The versatility of the vessels makes them highly suitable for serving the trade, catering to RoRo, Breakbulk, Projects, Military and containerized cargoes.   
NSCSA, through its Global Freight Forwarding and NVOCC business, serves the customers with logistical and distribution network that include packaging, warehousing/storage, ocean/land transportation, documentation and custom clearance.  
Sophisticated information technology and office automation, own container yard, a fleet of owned containers as well as own offices and agencies worldwide, NSCSA is well poised to meet its commitments besides offering a reliable and cost effective service to its customers.
The container services yard, with an area of (120,000 sq. m) in Jeddah Islamic Port is rendering excellent services to customers offering minimum loading, handling and operational costs for import / export units.   A specialized workshop in the yard undertakes repair and refurbishing of containers according to international standards.
Mideast Ship Management Ltd. (MSML), a joint venture ship management company, owned 80 per cent by NSCSA manages all NSCSA’s owned vessels, 3 chemical tankers of NCC and 2 chemical tankers of SABIC.
With the demand for crude oil and petrochemicals is expected to be strong and the prediction of industry to be one of continuous growth, NSCSA has achieved tremendous progress during 2004 and expect to achieve further development in the period ahead.    NSCSA has posted a net profit of SR 188.9 million in the first half of 2004 as compared to SR 102.9 million in the same period of 2003.   Revenue earned until June 2004 was SR 794.4 million, and two-fifth of which came from crude oil transport. Operating profit was SR 250.3 million.   
With the liner shipping front experiencing a strong market growth supported by steady increase in freight rates, NSCSA foresees continuous demand for specialized RoRo / Container vessels due to industrialization and ever-expanding infrastructure development activities in the Middle East.  With this background as well as the strong foothold established on the oil, petrochemical and liner sectors, plans to revamp / expand its activities will be a matter for future interest.