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Private company

Vela International Marine

Saudi Arabian oil tanker company

Vela International Marine Limited (Arabic: فيلا) is a Bahri-owned company. Vela, established in 1984, currently owns 29 oil tankers most of which are very large crude carriers (VLCCs). Vela International Marine's ship the MV Sirius Star was hijacked by Somali pirates on 15 November 2008 and released 9 January 2009 after a $3 million ransom was paid.2 It is part of Saudi Aramco.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1984Founded1

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Sirius Star 2008d
Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Aviation Warfare Systems Operator 2nd Class William S. Stevens, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

Vela International Marine Limited (Arabic: فيلا) is a Bahri-owned company. Vela, established in 1984, currently owns 29 oil tankers most of which are very large crude carriers (VLCCs).2

Corporate structure

Vela International Marine is part of a group headed by Saudi Aramco. 62 entities, 13 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Saudi Aramco Adh Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
    • Aramco Chemicals Company 100% · Adh Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
    • Aramco Overseas Company B.V. 100% · 's-Gravenhage, Netherlands
    • Vela International Marine 100% · Dubai
    • Aramco Financial Services Company Subsidiary · 100%
    • Arlanxeo Subsidiary · 100% · Maastricht, Netherlands
    • Motiva Enterprises Subsidiary · 100% · Houston, Texas, United States
    • S-Oil Subsidiary · 61.6% · Seoul, South Korea
    • SABIC Subsidiary · Riyadh
    • Saudi Aramco (United States) Subsidiary · Houston, United States
    • Showa Shell Sekiyu Subsidiary · Minato Ku, Japan
    • Valvoline Subsidiary · Lexington, Kentucky, United States
      • Valvoline Instant Oil Change Subsidiary
      • Funding Corp. I Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • NuWash, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • OCH International, Inc. Subsidiary · Oregon, United States
      • OCI Merger Sub Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Valvoline Branded Finance, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Valvoline Canada Retail Services Corp. Subsidiary · British Columbia, Canada
      • Valvoline Canadian Franchising Corp. Subsidiary · British Columbia, Canada
      • Valvoline Express Care Subsidiary · United States
      • Valvoline HD LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Valvoline Instant Oil Change Franchising, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Valvoline Licensing and Intellectual Property LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Valvoline LLC Defined Benefit Trust Subsidiary · Lexington, Kentucky, United States
      • Valvoline Quick Lube Corp. Subsidiary · British Columbia, Canada
      • Valvoline US LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • Valvoline US Retail Services LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • VIOC Funding, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • VRS HoldCo LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
    • أرامكو لإمداد الزيت الخام Subsidiary
    • Dussur Stake · 25%
    • National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia Stake · 20% · Riyadh
    • HD Hyundai Oilbank Stake · 17% · Seosan-si, South Korea
      • 에이치디현대쉘베이스오일 주식회사 Subsidiary · 60% · Seosan-si, South Korea
    • Horse Powetrain Ltd Stake · 10% · London
    • ARAMCO DOWNSTREAM ASIA PTE. LTD. Subsidiary · 100% · Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
    • ESMAX DISTRIBUCION SPA Subsidiary · 100% · Santiago, Chile
    • Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Ventures Company Limited Subsidiary · 100% · Adh Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
    • Saudi Petroleum International Subsidiary · 100%
    • Saudi Refining Subsidiary · 100% · Saudi Arabia
    • Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare Subsidiary · 80% · Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
    • Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (YASREF) Ltd Subsidiary · 62.5% · Yanbu, Saudi Arabia
    • ARAMCO ASIA SINGAPORE PTE. LTD. Subsidiary · Singapore, Singapore
    • Aramco Europe B.V. Subsidiary · S-Gravenhage, Netherlands
    • and 15 more

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

Products and brands

The current fleet consists of:

Albutain Star --319,500 DWT

Aldebaran Star --97,000 DWT

Almizan Star --319,500 DWT

Read the full text

Alnasl Star --49,000 DWT

Altair Star --49,000 DWT

Alphard Star-- 301,800 DWT

Altarf Star --49,000 DWT

Antares Star --319,400 DWT

Aries Star -- 317,000 DWT

Capricorn Star -- 317,000 DWT

Gemini Star-- 301,800 DWT

Homan Star--

Janah Star --319,500 DWT

Leo Star -- 317,000 DWT

Markab Star --301,500 DWT

Mirfak Star-- 301,500 DWT

Perkhad Star --301,500 DWT

Phoenix Star--291,400 DWT

Pisces Star -- 317,000 DWT

Polaris Star --301,500 DWT

Saiph Star --318,000 DWT

Serius Star --319,500 DWT

Shaula Star-- 301,500 DWT

Manifa -- 318,000 DWT.

Suhail Star-- 301,800 DWT

Vega Star --319,500 DWT

Virgo Star --

Zaurak Star --49,000 DWT

Vela International Marine Limited is ranked the sixth largest VLCC owner in the world:

1,100 Employees Worldwide.

1,000 Voyages/Year.

Own & Operate 26 Tankers.

22 VLCC Vessels: 2.1 MM BBL/Voyage.

One Aframax Tanker: 0.6 MM BBL/Voyage.

Four Medium Rang Tankers: 0.3 MM BBL/Voyage.

Vela Transports 3 MM BBL/Day, 83% Internationally, 17% Domestically.

From Wikipedia’s article on Vela International Marine, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1984Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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