The National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA) will sign on Sunday deals worth 1.54 billion riyals ($400 million) with South Korea's Hyundai Mipo Dockyard to build four vessels.

The agreement includes an option to get an additional two vessels, NSCSA said in a bourse statement on Saturday.

The company will take delivery of the four general cargo vessels from the end of 2012 until the end of 2013, it said. The four vessels will replace the ageing ones, it added.

The company seeks to finance 80 per cent of the orders from the government-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) and commercial banks through 12-year Islamic compliant debt instruments.-Reuters