Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Mohammad Saeidi, the managing director of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, complained about the existing banking restrictions but stressed that foreign banks have shown a strong determination to establish links with the Iranian side.
“At the moment, transport and shipping take place, but not very smoothly,” he said. “The situation is not costly for our Shipping Lines for now, but if continued, it can undermine the possibility of cooperation with relevant foreign companies.”
To a question about the IRISL Group bunkering bases, he said “we have established two bunkering sites at Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, each with a capacity of 50,000 tons. Our plans for the future is to turn the two sites into a bunkering hub in the region, particularly for foreign vessels. To this end, we need to lower the costs for competitive purposes.”
To Mehr News question about the sailing of Iranian vessels under non-Iranian flags, he said “after the JCPOA (Iran nuclear deal), 90 per cent of the IRISL Group fleet sail under Iran’s flag and there is only 10 per cent of our vessels that need to use international flags depending on the place that they are sailing to.”
According to the CEO of the IRISL, the company currently has 150 vessels and the capacity of the its container fleet stands at 100,000 TEU.
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