MUSCAT: Asyad Shipping, the majority state-owned Omani national maritime transportation company, has announced the sale of four legacy LNG vessels that once played a central role in establishing Oman as a reliable LNG exporter.
In a filing to the Muscat Stock Exchange on Sunday, the publicly listed company said an agreement for the sale of the partially owned LNG carriers Ibra, Ibri, Nizwa and Salalah was reached last month. The transaction — part of Asyad Shipping’s ongoing fleet renewal strategy — is expected to result in an “aggregate negative profit and loss impact of approximately RO 20 million ($51 million), of which a portion is attributable to non-controlling interests”.
The four vessels were built around two decades ago at a total investment cost of RO 42.35 million ($110 million).
Developed in the mid-2000s, the LNG carriers formed part of Oman’s first generation of LNG shipping assets supporting exports from the Oman LNG and Qalhat LNG facilities at Sur. Delivered between 2005 and 2006, the vessels — each with a capacity of around 145,000 cubic metres — were built at leading shipyards in Japan and South Korea and owned through Oman Shipping Company (now Asyad Shipping). Named after major Omani cities, they were deployed under long-term LNG offtake arrangements, primarily serving Asian markets.
“The four vessels being disposed of formed part of the Company’s initial fleet and have served as core assets since the Company’s inception. Following the expiry of their long-term time charter contracts, each with an original duration of approximately 20 years, the vessels demonstrated strong financial and technical performance over their operational lives, providing reliable international maritime transportation services for liquefied natural gas”, Asyad Shipping said in its filing.
“The disposal reflects the Company’s ongoing efforts to optimise its fleet profile, particularly in light of the vessels’ age and older technology, as well as the increasing regulatory and commercial challenges associated with the emissions performance of older vessels in the current market environment”, the company added.
Last month, Asyad Shipping also disposed of its VLCC Saiq in a deal valued at RO 23 million ($60 million). The vessel, built in 2011, is expected to be delivered to its new owner in the first quarter of 2026.
Asyad Shipping has outlined an ambitious growth strategy that envisions investments of between $2.3 billion and $2.7 billion through 2029 to expand its fleet across key segments of its diversified shipping portfolio. As of mid-2025, the company operated a fleet of 94 vessels across multiple commodity segments, comprising owned, leased and committed ships, up from 86 vessels at the end of 2024.
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