Asyad Shipping affirms multi-billion-dollar growth strategy

MUSCAT, AUG 29
Majority Omani state-owned national maritime transportation company Asyad Shipping has pledged to maintain its ambitious growth strategy, centring on a goal to invest multiple billions of dollars in new fleet capacity over the next several years.
The affirmation was made by top officials during a conference call with market analysts hosted recently by the company, with a focus on its financial and operational performance during the first half of this year.
Participating in the call were Dr Ibrahim al Nadhairi, CEO; Imad al Khaduri, Chief Commercial Officer; and Ahmed al Shukaili, Senior Vice President of Finance.
“As mentioned earlier, we have a clear growth strategy, with priority expansion in key segments”, said Dr al Nadhairi. “Our growth plan, ranging between $2.3 to $2.7 billion through 2029, remains firmly on track. The past six months have also demonstrated this commitment: we spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars on acquiring new ships as part of our capex in H1 2025, underscoring our strong growth trajectory”.
Publicly traded Asyad Shipping — part of Asyad Group — currently operates a fleet of 94 ships distributed across different commodity segments, divided between owned, leased and committed vessels that will be joining the fleet.
The fleet has grown from 86 ships as of December 31, 2024. In recent months, two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) — the sister ships MT Awabi and MT Qurayyat, each with a maximum deadweight capacity of 308,000 tonnes — joined the fleet.
In a snapshot of the market outlook across different segments, Asyad Shipping officials outlined the company’s strategy to build its fleet over the coming years. On the gas side, particularly LNG ships, two new vessels are scheduled to join the fleet in 2026 under long-term charter with Oman LNG. At present, Asyad Shipping owns seven LNG ships, plus one additional ship taken from the market for local business.
On the crude side, Asyad Shipping owns 12 ships in line with its strategy of selling older vessels and replacing them with newer ones — six of which are due in 2025, with another four arriving in 2026. Additionally, there are four crude carriers on the Suezmax side that were taken from the market.
In the tanker segment, particularly medium-range (MR) tankers, the company owns 15 vessels and has leased another 23 from the market. These operate across both western and eastern markets, capitalising on opportunities for clean petroleum products. Additionally, two more MR tankers will join the fleet under contract in 2026, mainly for methanol trade between Oman and the West under charter to Omani integrated energy group OQ.
In dry bulk, Asyad Shipping currently owns 11 ships with six leased from the market. “This segment benefits from our strength in the VLOC category, which gives us flexibility to charter vessels as needed. In addition, our Ultramax and Kamsarmax ships handle regional trade, carrying commodities from the Arabian Gulf to Asia and bringing in bauxite from Australia to Oman. The dry bulk trade varies depending on commodities and charter arrangements”, added Imad al Khaduri, Chief Commercial Officer.
On the liner side, strong charter rates have enabled Asyad Shipping to charter out its owned and leased vessels, providing a solid advantage. In container operations, the company has been following an NVOCC (Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier) model to maximise container utilisation. However, in the coming months, the company plans to return to operating chartered-in ships as three owned vessels are phased out of service, officials said, adding that additional ships will be brought in at the right price to sustain operations.
Dr Al Nadhairi further commented: “At ASCO, we see a robust backlog of $1.7 billion in contracted revenues across the five segments we operate in — gas, crude, tankers, products, dry bulk and containers. This gives us strong visibility going forward”.