The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) announced that it has received a new Very Large Crude Carrier. The ship was christened ‘Lawhah’, at a naming ceremony at the South Korean Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) Mokpo shipyard in South Jeolla Province, on Thursday 1st of February 2018.
The newly received VLCC is one of the 5 VLCCs that were financed by Standard Chartered Bank, Arab National Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Bank Albilad, according to Bahri announcement on 30 November 2016.
This latest delivery is part of a ten-VLCC order from the South Korean shipyard, back in May 2015. This was the seventh VLCC of the national fleet so far, with the ‘Kassab’ being delivered in late January and the ‘Shaden’ in late November. The national fleet has currently 43 VLCCs.
The commercial operation of ‘Lawhah’ is expected to start in March 2018. The financial impact of the new VLCC is expected to be in the first quarter of 2018.
