United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) on Monday appointed Dr. Nabeel Al-Amudi as chairman of the company’s board of directors, and Sheikh Ali bin Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani as vice chairman.
Dr Al-Amudi is currently the president of the Saudi Ports Authority, while Sheikh Al-Thani is the chairman of Qatar’s prominent shipping company, Milaha and sits on the board of Qatar Holding.
Prior to joining the Saudi Ports Authority, Dr. Al-Amudi held several managerial and leadership positions in Saudi Aramco and its various subsidiaries, including presidency of Aramco Services Company, based in Houston, Texas.
During his tenure at Saudi Aramco, Dr. Al-Amudi assisted in starting up the Ras Tanura Refinery Expansion Project. He was also involved in the development, negotiation and implementation of a number of pioneering Saudi Aramco joint ventures and financings, including the Rabigh Development Project (Petro Rabigh) and the Saudi Aramco Total Refinery Project (SATORP).
Sheikh Al-Thani started his career at the Ministry of Finance in Qatar as a financial analyst in the Investment Bureau and was involved in the founding of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
United Arab Shipping Company was jointly established in July 1976 by Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. According to its website, the company is the largest container shipping line in the Middle East and adjacent markets, covering over 240 ports and destinations worldwide.
“Al-Amudi’s and Sheikh Al-Thani’s strong leadership experience and solid track record in spearheading complex and large organizations will be crucial as UASC moves forward with its global expansion plans.
“UASC is currently undergoing one of the industry’s largest and most technologically advanced newbuilding programs, recently naming the world’s most eco-efficient ultra-large container vessel. With a loading capacity of 18,800TEU, the DNV GL classed vessel M.V. ‘Barzan’ is the greenest ultra-large vessel in the world and the largest in UASC’s fleet to date,” the company said in a statement.
Over the past year, UASC signed two key cooperation agreements with French liner shipping company CMA CGM and with China Shipping Container Lines to create the so called ‘Ocean 3 alliance’.
The alliance covers the Asia-Europe, Asia-Mediterranean, trans-Pacific and Asia-US East Coast trades involving a combination of vessel-sharing agreements, slot exchange deals and slot charter arrangements, according to media reports.
UASC also signed a long-term agreement with The Hamburg Süd Group, initially providing its customers with broad access to the east coast of South America.
