National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has signed a contract worth about SR1.69 billion ($451 million) with International Maritime Industries (IMI) to build and deliver three very large crude carriers (VLCCs), the company said in a Saudi Exchange filing on Sunday.
The contract was signed on Oct. 22. Each tanker will have a capacity of 320,000 deadweight tons, and IMI will deliver the vessels in stages during 2029 and 2030, Bahri said, according to Mubasher.
Bahri will fund the contract through a mix of internal cash and bank facilities. It said the financial impact will appear in its financial statements once the tankers are delivered and begin commercial operations.
The deal raises the number of vessels under construction in Saudi Arabia for Bahri to nine, comprising six bulk carriers and three VLCCs, the company said.
The contract is a related-party transaction. Bahri owns 19.9% of IMI, and Ahmed Al-Subaey, a Bahri board member and its chief executive officer, also sits on IMI’s board of directors.
Bahri said the agreement is part of its strategy to modernize and expand its fleet, and that it supports efforts to localize shipbuilding capacity and related supply chains in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic plan.
IMI operates a shipyard at Ras Al-Khair on Saudi Arabia’s east coast. Its shareholders include Saudi Aramco and Bahri.
 signed a SR1.69 billion ($451 million) deal with IMI for three 320,000-ton VLCCs, due in 2029 and 2030.){kind=link}