Saudi Arabia’s national shipping company Bahri has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Suez Canal Authority to create an Egyptian joint-stock company for maritime transport.

The company stated to the Saudi stock market that the firm will focus on owning, leasing, chartering and operating vessels for transporting general and bulk cargo, chemicals, oil and all other marine transport-related activities.

Bahri’s profits grew by more than five times last year to exceed one billion riyals ($266.5 million)

The improvements are driven by the performance of many sectors, notably the crude oil transportation sector and the chemical transportation sector, as a result of transportation price increases, an increase in transportation operations and the addition of new ships.

The MoU agreement can be renewed after six months from the date of signing.

Bahri, founded in 1978, is one of the world’s largest shipping companies, with a total of at least 95 vessels serving 150 ports worldwide. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund and Saudi Aramco both own 22.5 percent and 20 percent of the corporation, respectively.

Bahri ranks seventh on Forbes Middle East’s 10 Biggest Logistics Companies in MENA 2021 List and 40th on the Top 100 Companies in the Middle East 2021 List.

Egypt’s state-owned Suez Canal Authority is aiming to have a 15 percent share of global energy commerce by 2040, up from 8 percent in 2019.

It set an all-time revenue record of $7 billion in the fiscal year 2021-2022, up 20.7 percent from the previous 12-month period.

The development comes as the Kingdom adds two shipping services to boost trade with East Africa.

The new transport lanes were unveiled by Saudi’s port authority, also known as Mawani, which will see commerce through East Africa to Red Sea and from Red Sea to Jeddah Islamic Port route, Saudi Press Agency reported.