Kuwait-based United Arab Shipping has approached banks to arrange a $700 million loan to fund the purchase of new ships, two bankers familiar with the deal said on Sunday.
The shipper was set up by six Gulf Arab states in 1976 to reduce the region's dependence on foreign shipping lines. The largest ocean carrier of dry cargo to the Middle East, the company has a fleet of 33 vessels, according to its Web site.
United Arab plans to more than double its capacity to 190,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from 90,000, according to shipping industry magazine TradeWinds.
Banks are bidding to arrange the deal, two bankers said, asking not to be identified.
United Arab's chief executive officer, Ken Bloch Soerensen, could not immediately be reached for comment.
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