General Organisation of Sea Ports (GOP) has announced the signing of a prime tenancy agreement between Almoayed Wilhelmsen, a leading shipping and transport company and the Bahrain Logistics Zone (BLZ).

Almoayed Wilhelmsen is a joint venture between one of Bahrain’s leading families AK Almoayed and Norwegian shipping company, Wilhelmsen of Oslo founded in 1976.

The company offers personalized services in all sectors of the shipping and transport industry providing a unique combination of integrated shipping, logistics and maritime services.

The Kingdom’s dedicated customs-free, value-added logistics park, BLZ is located within the Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP) and the industrial community.

The state-of-the-art multimodal logistics park will offer companies dedicated value-added warehousing facilities tightly integrated with the Kingdom’s maritime and distribution capabilities, said a GOP statement.

Almoayed Wilhelmsen has signed a 20-year agreement, leasing more than 4000 sq m of land at BLZ, said a top official.

Commenting on the deal, Hassan Ali Al Majed, director general GOP said: “We are pleased to welcome Almoayed Wilhelmsen, one of the pioneers and most reputed shipping names in the Kingdom to the BLZ.

Designed to reflect the economic vision and aspirations of the Kingdom, the BLZ has been prudent in the selection of its tenants, Al Majed noted.

'Our lease agreements take into account the economic goals of Bahrain, and we are confident that Almoayed Wilhelmsen will positively contribute to the national interest by adding value in terms of generating investment, creating job opportunities and solidifying Bahrain’s position as a viable logistics hub in the Gulf,' he added.

Per Jorgensen, general manager of Almoayed Wilhelmsen said: 'BLZ’s strategic location in close proximity to the Kingdom’s new sea port and access to prime transportation links made it our preferred base for expanding our operations.'

'Additionally, BLZ’s wide variety of value-added warehousing services including round-the-clock customs and support facilities have allowed us to move our export and distribution of general cargo services to a common location thus streamlining functions and facilities that were earlier disparate,' Jorgensen remarked.

'More importantly, our premises at the BLZ will allow us to offer comprehensive logistics solutions to our customer’s value added goods and products. The BLZ investment will enable delivery of the WSS offer. With this move, we look forward to expanding our business and deriving maximum benefit in terms of operational efficiency,' he added.

GOP has been actively promoting the Kingdom’s logistics and maritime credentials by reaching out to potential target markets through international and regional road shows.

Earlier this year a senior level delegation visited Japan and Germany to establish stronger logistics engagements. As a result, the BLZ is today in serious negotiations with various international, regional and local companies and is expecting to sign further lease agreements in the coming months.-TradeArabia News Service