Oman Shipping Company (OSC), the wholly Omani government-owned maritime freight transportation services provider, plans to invest in a modern container shipping fleet in an ambitious bid to become a significant player in the regional container shipping business, said a report.

Expansion plans outlined by OSC’s parent holding company Asyad Group, the sultanate’s end-to-end transportation and logistics flagship, envision the growth of Oman Shipping’s container fleet from two vessels presently to 15 by 2023, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

This is line with Oman Shipping’s aspirations to carry 1 million TEUs of containers annually across its regional network by 2023, it said.

Details about Oman Shipping’s bold expansion strategy were outlined at a first-ever ‘majlis’ hosted recently by Asyad Group. It envisions a substantial ramp-up in the size of the company’s diversified shipping fleet, from 49 vessels by the end of 2018, to 71 by 2023.

The new additions will primarily come in the Container Liner segment, with as many as 13 vessels planned to be inducted over the next five years.

OSC’s wholly owned subsidiary Oman Container Line (OCL) currently operates a container feedering service, namely the Gulf Express Service (GEX), between Jebel Ali in the UAE and Suhar, Duqm and Salalah in Oman.

Launching operations initially as a liner operator, OCL has since made the strategic transition to becoming a third party feeder operator, added the report.