MOHAMMED KHALIFA A. AL-SADA
BIOGRAPHY
Mohammed Khalifa A. Al-Sada is one of the founders of S'hail Shipping and Maritime Services. He graduated from UK with a major in shipping and maritime. He also holds a diploma in shipping and port management. Al-Sada has accumulated more than 44 years of experience in the shipping and maritime sector. He is well-versed in the different phases of development and change in the life of corporations. He is also the chairman and managing director of S'hail Shipping and Maritime Services.
What are the company's main areas of focus and activities?
The company was established in 2016 with a share capital of QAR100 million. This capital was subscribed by 343 local Qatari shareholders, making it a private joint stock company. The capital was raised to purchase dry bulk carriers for transporting gabbro. Since its inception, the main focus of the company has been to become Qatar's largest owner of dry bulk carriers to primarily transport the majority of gabbro imported by Qatar.
How did the embargo affect your operations?
The embargo was a surprise for us. In fact, one of our ships was in the midst of loading gabbro from Fujairah in UAE when this announcement was made public. Another ship was carrying cargo from Japan to the UAE. The situation was bad because all our ships not only fly under the Qatari flag and are registered in Qatar, but also 100% owned by Qataris. I must give credit to our extremely professional team who not only resolved the company's above contractual obligations without significant damage but also shifted the fleet to international trading. Since then, we have been successfully transporting goods around the world, from the US to China and Australia. To date, we have globally transported about 4 million tons of dry bulk cargo.
What are your goals and objectives for the years ahead?
Recognizing our excellent performance and capabilities, Qatar Development Bank (QDB) decided to fund the company's expansion. So, in November 2018, we purchased our fifth ship, fully funded by QDB. In the meantime, our shareholders also approved to fund the company's expansion plan. Thus, the company entered into agreement to purchase two additional ships for a price of about QAR75 million. Both the ships will be delivered to us in June 2019. This will increase the company's fleet to seven ships and dwt to 483,522, thereby enhancing our cargo carrying capacity and boosting our revenue.
MOHAMMED KHALIFA A. AL-SADA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Interview
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