Oman’s state-owned shipping company, Asyad Shipping, plans to add 33 new vessels to expand its fleet by more than a third.
Established in 2003 and owned by the Omani Sovereign Wealth Fund, Asyad currently operates 94 vessels, including 22 crude oil tankers, 34 product tankers, 10 gas carriers, 23 dry bulk carriers and 5 container vessels with a total deadweight of 11.4 million tons.
Asyad Shipping’s fleet expansion is planned for 2025 and will add 33 vessels, including tankers, gas carriers and cargo ships, to meet the growing demand for shipping services in Europe and Asian markets such as Japan and Korea.
The shipowner’s fleet expansion budget is understood to be as high as $2.7 billion, financed by medium-term loans from financial institutions and domestic and foreign banks.Asyad Shipping is also planning to list on Oman’s Muskat Securities Market with a public offering of 20 percent of its shares to raise $1 billion in capital.
Asyad Shipping is already well positioned in the gas transportation market, having secured long-term contracts for almost all of its capacity. With the gradual expansion of its fleet, the company is able to take on the growing LNG transportation business in Oman, which produced 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2024, an increase of 5 % over the previous year. In addition, Asyad Shipping will also benefit from the expected growth in Oman’s green hydrogen production powered by solar and wind energy.