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10th February, 2010
DUBAI: Malaysian shipping company MISC Bhd has established a regional office in Dubai as the company seeks to further boost its role as a leading transportation partner for the Middle East region.
MISC president and chief executive, Amir Hamzah Azizan, said the move was based on geography and the company’s long-term business plan for its liner services.
It also fits in with MISC’s strategy to become a leading provider of safe and trusted transportation for the halal industry.
Speaking at the opening of the MISC Regional Office (Middle East) Monday night, Amir Hamzah said the region now had a leadership role in the global oil and gas market and was seeing a strong and growing economy.
“Being one of the world’s leading energy transporters, it makes sense for MISC to be closely associated with the leading producers of oil and gas,” he said.
Amir Hamzah also said that MISC’s presence in Dubai would support Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas’ continued growth and expansion in the Middle East.
He alluded to Petronas’ foray into the Iraqi oil and gas industry, having been recently successful in obtaining development rights to oilfields in Iraq.
Currently, MISC vessels Seri Balhaf and Seri Balqis are servicing the Yemeni LNG (liquefied natural gas) project, delivering LNG to the United States and Mexico.
MISC’s VLCCs (very large crude carriers), Aframaxes and chemical tankers are also calling at main oil and petrochemical terminals in the Gulf region.
Since its inception in 1968 with two ships to its name, MISC has grown into a fully integrated maritime, heavy engineering and logistics services provider with an operating fleet of more than 170 vessels.
On its liner services, Amir Hamzah said MISC had restructured its liner business portfolio to mitigate the effects of the global economic downturn that had severely impacted the global liner industry.
“We are now focused on becoming the leading intra-Asia liner operator, with the Middle East/Indian subcontinent to Asia/Oceania trade being one of our core trade services,” he said.
He said MISC was also tapping into the growing halal industry with its Halal Express Service (HES) 1 and 2.
“HES 1 and HES 2 are currently seeing 100 per cent and 90 per cent slot utilisation respectively,” Amir Hamzah said, adding that the halal food industry in the Gulf region was estimated to be worth more than US$43 billion.
MISC’s subsidiary, MISC Integrated Logistics (MILS), is in a joint-venture with Rais Hassan Saadi, a partnership that links MILS Logistics Hub in Port Klang with Dubai’s Air Cargo Hub, creating an exclusive halal hub facility in the region.
Among those present at the opening were Malaysian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Datuk Yahaya Abdul Jabar, Consul-General in Dubai Syed Mohamad Hasrin Tengku Hussin and Matrade’s senior trade commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Mahmud.
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