SHANGHAI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Oman Shipping Company (OSC), a member of Oman's state-owned company the ASYAD, held a naming ceremony for a dry cargo ship last week, marking the official handover of the vessel from a Chinese shipyard.
The new ship will join OSC's fleet of over 50 world-class vessels including LNG carriers, LPG carriers, VLCCs, tankers, VLOCs, dry cargo, and container ships.
Earlier in August, OSC had received a cargo ship from the same Chinese shipyard, Zhoushan Changhong International Shipyard Co., Ltd.
The two new ships, which are part of a series of four ultramax dry cargo vessels due to be delivered to OSC in 2019, will increase the company's offering in the dry bulk market in response to growing customer demand.
"The delivery of two vessels is part of OSC dry cargo expansion program that will enhance our position in the segment as a key shipping provider for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and global markets," said Michael Jorgensen, acting chief executive officer of OSC.
The OSC acting CEO stated that it represents a further demonstration of Oman’s ongoing interest in the quality and versatility of Chinese shipbuilding, as well as the expansion of China-Oman trade overall."
Lin Feng, Changhong's Shanghai bureau chief, said this deal is part of the shipyard's international business and reflects the advanced shipbuilding capabilities of Chinese manufacturers.
OSC's operations are closely linked to China. Accordingly, about 10 percent of OSC’s turnover comes from Chinese customers, including PetroChina, Sinopec, UNIPEC, CNPC, etc.
"For an international company with markets in more than 50 countries around the world, 10 percent is a quite large proportion," said Michael Jorgensen.
With the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, increasing business activities have been launched between China and Oman.
According to data on China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, China-Oman trade amounted to 21.739 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, including 2.877 billion U.S. dollars worth of export to Oman and 18.862 billion U.S. dollars of imports from Oman, up 38.5 percent, 24.2 percent and 40.9 percent respectively.
Analyst believes China's advanced processing industry and production capacity can make up for the relative shortage of industrial production capacity of GCC countries. (Contributed by Hu Jiefei, edited by Duan Jing)
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