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Sharjah-based FAL Group has announced that its shipping arm, FAL Shipping Company is due to shortly receive two new ships as part of its expansion program.

The group currently has four Aframax vessels under construction, two each in Japan and South Korea.

The new Aframax vessels were designed by the son of FAL's founder and chairman Abdullah Juma Al Sari, and the group financed their construction.

FAL Shipping operates a fleet of 16 vessels with a total capacity of 435,000 dwt. The largest vessel has a capacity of 285,000 dwt.

Speaking at the American University in Sharjah, Al Sari said that despite the current economic climate and lower oil prices, FAL Group had seen profits rise in 2009 compared to the previous year.

FAL Group has expanded into several business areas since it was established in 1969, including refining, storage, domestic sales and the manufacture and distribution of lubricants.

FAL Oil Company Ltd. mainly deals in the sale of bulk oil cargoes of primary fuel oils, MDO, gasoil, naptha and jet kerosene. The company has also enhanced its market presence with offices in the UK, as FAL Oil UK Ltd., and Singapore, as FAL Oil Asia Pte. Ltd..

It also operates two storage terminals located in the U.A.E with a total capacity of 600,000 cbm. The capacity of its storage facility in Hamriyah has recently been increased to 210,000 cubic metres.

In the marine fuels market, FAL Energy Co. Ltd. has been supplying bunker fuels and lubricants to customers in the Arabian Gulf since 1991.

Commenting on the group's bunker division, Al Sari said: "Over the past five years, it has established a 45 per cent share of the marine market in the area. Due to the strategic location particularly Fujairah and Khorfakkan port on the Gulf of Oman just south of the Straight of Hormuz, UAE has positioned itself as one of the largest on-shore and offshore bunkering centres. It is estimated that between 12 to 15 million MT of bunker fuel a year are delivered offshore in the UAE and specifically the anchorages off Fujairah, Khorfakkan and Dubai area."

According to Al Sari, FAL can now lay claim to being possibly the largest single point bunker operation in the world.