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In profile: Steering the regional maritime industry’s growth with Bahri

In profile: Bahri are a Strategic Partner of the Saudi Maritime Congress and will be in attendance at the event in Riyadh on 11-12 March.  Ahead of the show, they share with Seatrade Maritime News their current standing in the industry, as well as their contribution to regional growth.

Marcus Hand, Editor

March 6, 2019

8 Min Read
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A global leader in logistics and transportation, Bahri is at the forefront of revolutionizing the shipping industry. Through its various business units, namely Oil, Logistics, Chemicals, Dry Bulk, and Ship Management, the company provides a diverse range of innovative services that include transportation of crude oil, oil products, chemicals, bulk, and general cargo.

Global Network

Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Bahri has a global network of offices in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the USA, and India and a vast network of agents across the Middle East and Africa, the USA, Europe, and Asia.

Bahri is the leading direct full liner service provider from U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports and Canada to Jeddah, Dubai, Dammam, and Mumbai, including wayport calls along the liner service route in the Mediterranean and Europe.

It also operates two direct monthly services through the Red Sea and Gulf ports, independent yet complementing each other to provide greater frequency and service coverage from the main Northern European ports of Tilbury, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bilbao and Gdansk, offering connections to and from Scandinavia, the Baltic, and Russia.

Bahri’s current network of destinations includes Ras Tanura and Yanbu (Saudi Arabia), Ain Sokhna (Egypt), Okinawa (Japan), Rotterdam and The North Sea (Netherlands), Onsan (South Korea), The Caribbean, India, the United States, Singapore, China, and West Africa.

Fleet

The largest owner and operator of Very Large Crude-oil Carriers (VLCCs) in the world and the largest owner and operator of chemical tankers in the Middle East, Bahri owns and operates an impressive fleet of 92 vessels, including 45 VLCCs, 36 chemical & product tankers, 6 multipurpose vessels, and 5 dry bulk carriers, serving 150 ports worldwide with additional 5 bulk tankers on order.

With oil transport representing a major sector for Bahri, the company operates the largest fleet of double-hulled VLCCs built to the highest international standards. Each VLCC has the capacity to carry 2.2 million barrels with a current fleet DWT of approximately 12 million tons. Bahri is the exclusive provider of VLCC transportation for Saudi Aramco’s Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) sales, and is also the exclusive logistics provider for the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior of Saudi Arabia. In 2016, the company launched a $1.5 billion investment fund in collaboration with Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. (APICORP) to acquire further 15 VLCCs.

Employed by Bahri Logistics, the company’s Ro-Ro vessels have a capacity of approximately 26,000 DWT each. They are specialized in carrying general, project, and several types of Ro-Ro cargoes and equipped with heavy-lift cranes.

Bahri Chemicals owns and operates the world’s largest modern, medium-range fleet of coated chemical tankers which has a capacity of 1.3 million DWT. Designed to the highest specifications, the fleet is capable of carrying a wide range of chemical cargoes, including liquid chemicals, clean petroleum products, and vegetable oils.

Bahri Dry Bulk owns and operates a state-of-the-art, large-capacity, fuel-efficient fleet of dry bulk vessels with environmentally-friendly operations. Each of the existing five vessels can lift around 1.3 million tons of cargo per annum.

In order to meet the growing demand Bahri Dry Bulk is witnessing for the import of essential grains such as barley, wheat, and corn into the Kingdom, Bahri signed an agreement with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, a member of Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) Group, to build four environmentally-friendly bulk carriers with a capacity to carry up to 80,000 metric tons per voyage.

Commitment to Quality, Safety, and Environment

Quality and safety are at the heart of Bahri’s operations. In addition to being ISO 9001:201, ISO 14001:2015 certified and holding ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management certification, the company is also one of the few in the region to have received the prestigious US Coast Guard’s QUALSHIP 21 status, a recognition given only to vessels that meet the most stringent quality and safety standards. As a testament to its commitment to environmental sustainability, the company’s Total Recordable Case Frequency (TRCF) is less than 40%, and Port State Control (PSC) deficiencies are only 40% of the industry benchmark.

Furthermore, the company has initiated several new measures to maintain the top-notch security of its fleet and reinforce a culture of safety across the organization. Bahri Ship Management has partnered with maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register to help analyze and build on its existing safety culture. Breaking with tradition, the business unit has also introduced the concept of ‘Safety Ambassador,’ besides having provided an extra deck officer aboard its vessels so that chief officer can be a day worker and focus more on safety. Bahri Ship Management is also a member of Tanker Structure Co-operative Forum "TSCF".

Bahri’s vessels have been provided with cutting-edge tools for running safe operations and making their work easier. Bahri Ship Management was one of the first global maritime companies to deploy ‘Pay As You Go’ Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) management tool for Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). The business unit is also a frontrunner in providing ‘Enviromanager Tool’ to give real-time information to vessel management team when vessels are in Special Areas under MARPOL, Emission Control Areas (ECAs), or ‘territorial waters.’

Innovation

Bahri has a strong track record in pioneering technological innovation to introduce ground-breaking maritime logistics solutions. The company has made rapid strides in Big Data and analytics and is developing several Big Data models in the areas of chartering, voyage management, fleet operations, connected ship, maintenance, and customer service.

‘Next Best Cargo,’ a Big Data model to identify the most lucrative cargo for any charterer, Bahri Real-time Integrated Systems Operations (BRISO), a platform that integrates diverse information related to shipping business, ranging from weather prediction to rate prediction, and ‘Safe Seas’, an innovative solution to promote maritime safety, security, quality as well as compliance with global industry regulations, are among many innovative solutions Bahri has introduced.

Training and Development of Personnel

An employer of choice, Bahri has a strong team of around 3,000 members, including a vast global network of offices and officially appointed representatives. The company has earned a reputation for its commitment to the well-being and the professional as well as personal development of its people. With the objective of nurturing a proactive, agile, and dedicated workforce with right skills, knowledge, and expertise, Bahri has implemented a Talent Management Framework that provides a clear direction for strategically sourcing, managing, and developing talent in the organization.

Reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to the personal and professional development of its crew members, Bahri organizes five crew conferences every year to offer training opportunities to its staff and vessel crew.

As part of its initiatives to develop the future talent to helm the growth of the Saudi maritime industry, Bahri has signed an agreement with King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah to provide training opportunities to its Marine Sciences graduates on board the company’s vessels. The company is also a keen supporter of ‘SAIFI,’ a summer training program jointly launched by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the Human Resources Development Fund for undergraduate students in the Kingdom and Graduate Development Program (GDP) to hire fresh graduates and provide them on job training for one year.

Contributions to Saudi Vision 2030

The company’s contributions to Saudi Arabia’s maritime shipping sector over the years have been pivotal. Committed to playing a leading role in realizing the Kingdom’s Saudi Vision 2030, Bahri’s long-term business plans and strategic partnerships are helping position the Kingdom as a unique regional logistics gateway to three continents.

Bahri’s joint development agreement with Saudi Aramco, Lamprell plc, and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. to establish a maritime yard at Ras Al Khair in eastern Saudi Arabia is a major milestone in the industry’s history. Set to be the largest in the region in terms of scale and production capacity, the maritime yard is aimed at promoting the logistics and transportation sector, creating thousands of new job opportunities, and localizing talent in the industry. The new facility will have the capacity to manufacture four offshore rigs, over 40 vessels including three VLCCs, and service over 260 maritime products on an annual basis. The yard is expected to commence production and service operations in 2019, with the facility reaching its full production capacity by 2022.

Through partnership and joint ventures, the company continues to deepen its presence in the region. In 2017, Bahri and Bolloré, one of the largest transport and logistics operators in the world, formed their joint venture, BahriBolloré Logistics. In the same year, Bahri joined hands with the global agribusiness and food company Bunge to launch their joint venture BahriBunge Dry Bulk Ltd.

Awards and Recognition

Consistently recognized for its excellence in service and quality, Bahri has received over 30 local, regional, and international industry awards to this date. In 2018, the company bagged 11 awards including Shipping ‎Company of ‎The Year and Ship Manager ‎of The Year at The Maritime ‎Standard ‎Awards, Break Bulk ‎Operator of ‎the Year at the Global Freight ‎Awards, Best Talent ‎Development ‎Strategy at the Future ‎Workplace ‎‎Awards, Topaz ‎Excellence in ‎Logistics ‎Award at the Lloyd's List ‎South Asia, ‎Middle East & ‎Africa Awards, among several other prestigious awards. The company continues to push ahead with its long-term growth strategies, expanding its market footprint, strengthening its fleet, and introducing new offerings to bring greater value to its customers and shareholders.

To know more about Bahri, please visit www.bahri.sa

Read more about:

BahriSaudi Arabia

About the Author

Marcus Hand

Editor

Marcus Hand is the editor of Seatrade Maritime News and a dedicated maritime journalist with over two decades of experience covering the shipping industry in Asia.

Marcus is also an experienced industry commentator and has chaired many conferences and round tables. Before joining Seatrade at the beginning of 2010, Marcus worked for the shipping industry journal Lloyd's List for a decade and before that the Singapore Business Times covering shipping and aviation.

In November 2022, Marcus was announced as a member of the Board of Advisors to the Singapore Journal of Maritime Talent and Technology (SJMTT) to help bring together thought leadership around the key areas of talent and technology.

Marcus is the founder of the Seatrade Maritime Podcast that delivers commentary, opinions and conversations on shipping's most important topics.

Conferences & Webinars

Marcus Hand regularly moderates at international maritime events. Below you’ll find a list of selected past conferences and webinars.

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