Oman Shipping Company (OSC) and Emirates Trading Agency (ETA) have signed two joint venture agreements.

The agreements aim at establishing two companies in order to ship alumina to Sohar Aluminum and methanol to Salalah Methanol Co, a report in Oman Tribune said.

OSC will own 60 per cent and ETA  will own 40 per cent in each company.

The first agreement was to form a company which owns two vessels with 55,000 dead weight tonne (dwt) each to provide transportation for Sohar Aluminium to import alumina into Sohar, Economy Minister and Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council deputy chairman and OSC chairman Ahmed Bin Abdulnabi Macki was quoted as saying.
 
Production at Sohar Aluminum will start in 2008.
 
The other agreement was to create another company that will offer two vessels with a capacity of 50,000dwt each for the transportation of methanol from Salalah Methanol Company which will start by early 2010.
 
Macki said the plan for OSC is to provide transportation solutions for industrial projects in Oman.
 
By providing shipping solutions to transport products in and out of Oman, the return from operating the vessels will generate an additional source of revenue for the economy.

Oman Shipping Company owns and charters 20 vessels which transport LNG, crude oil, refined petroleum products, and petrochemicals.

The company is growing its  fleet as per its expansion plan and as per the requirement of the various projects in the Sultanate.

Macki said the OSC gives high priority in training Omani youth.
 
The company has already sponsored 30 students to pursue higher studies in the United Kingdom and another 20 students are to be sponsored this year to join the International Maritime College of Oman.