The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) has launched a new container service linking the Thames side port of Tilbury in the UK with the Middle East. The service offers shippers a new option for transporting heavy roll-on/roll-off, project and containerized cargoes between the UK, Northern Europe and the Gulf region. The service is operated by two vessels, the 25,957 dwt multipurpose Bahri Jeddah and sister ship Bahri Abha. Built in 2013, both are flexible, self-geared RoCon vessels offering 6.8 meter height clearance, 250-tonne ramp capacity and two 120-ton deck cranes with a tandem lift capacity of 240 tons. The ships can carry up to 700 cars, and have a combined deck capacity of 25,000 square meters, plus container capacity for 300 TEU. The ships are fully equipped to carry standard containers, rolling vehicles, tracked vehicles, static cargo, project cargo and high & heavy cargo. After the Northern Europe calls, the service calls at Jeddah, Jebel Ali and Dammam. A wide range of other ports in the region will be served by inducement or by transhipment via own tonnage and approved partner carriers, Bahri said in a statement. DKT Allseas Shipping, a 50/50 joint venture between Allseas Global Logistics and De Keyser Thornton, is the liner agent for the service. "Thanks to the extreme flexibility of these vessels and the service, we have the benefit of not being limited to any single target sector of the market," said Trevor Kay, Bahri service line manager at DKT Allseas. "However, a major focus is big project cargoes, which can be handled by the on-board cranes and via RoRo. The unique factor is that shippers now have the benefit of a direct call into the UK, instead of having to transship to Antwerp." Saudi Arabia's large railway projects will take several years of engineering and major construction work and this new service is especially catered to those needs, Kay said. Minor civil engineering has begun, with consequent demand for excavators and general construction equipment. Steel, sleepers, rail track and, eventually, rolling stock, will all be required, as well as all of the construction materials and engineering equipment for building stations, roads, parking and other services. — SG/Agencies
