Ten new medium range product tankers will join the fleet of state-owned Oman Shipping Company (OSC) in the next one year, taking the total strength of the fleet to 53 from 43 now, said a top-level official of the company.

Between November this year and November 2016, we will receive all 10 vessels. And these vessels will be managed by Oman Ship Management Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oman Shipping Company, Tarik Mohammed Al Junaidi, acting chief executive officer of Oman Shipping Company told Times of Oman in an exclusive interview.

He said that about 2 years ago, Oman Shipping secured a deal with Shell for offering 10 mid-range product carriers. These vessels carry refined petroleum products and the first delivery is going to be in November this year, added Al Junaidi.

The total project cost for the ten vessels is approximately $320 million. And as much as 80 per cent of the funding will be by way of term lending from financial institutions.

Al Junaidi said these ships are manufactured in South Korea by Hyundai.

He said the aggregate capacity of Oman Shipping's fleet will go up to 8.5 million deadweight tonnes (DWT), once the new ships join the fleet, from eight million deadweight tonnes now. Each mid-range tanker has deadweight of 50,000 tonnes.

He said Oman Shipping has been expanding in line with the country's demand for import and export requirements. We started with Oman LNG, Oman Oil Company related products like SoharAluminum, Vale Oman and Salalah Methanol. Now the company is looking for opportunities in the international arena.

Oman Shipping is watching the developments in Duqm and looking at opportunities to provide ships for the proposed Duqm Refinery, which is likely to be ready by 2019. Duqm Refinery will require ships for transporting either crude or refined products outside. We are closely discussing with them, he said, adding; It all depends on how much is going to be exported and who is going to be their customers (regional or international firms). We want to be partners (in Duqm development).

Referring to the requirement of additional vessels for Duqm, Al Junaidi said his company can either go for brand new vessels or second-hand ships. If it is second-hand vessel, we don't have to wait. However, the time taken for ordering and taking delivery of a brand new vessel is about three years. In terms of timing, we are still fine.

Oman Shipping has a mix of high-tech fleet spanning a diverse range of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), LNG carriers, product tankers, multi-purpose vessels, bulk carriers and container ships. Starting with LNG transportation, Oman Shipping's expansion was very fast-paced and broad-based to cater to the needs of Oman's oil and gas, petrochemical and other industries.