Eleven international shipping companies intend to set up offices at Shahid Rajaee Port. This port is the Iran’s largest commercial port having container terminal that plays a significant role in import and export of cargo. A European company would be the first one to open its office in Iran within the next four weeks.
As confirmed by Mohammad Saeidnejad, the President of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), these companies belong to different countries like China, South Korea and others. Iran encouraging direct shipping lines to the country has become possible only after several months of negotiations.
Diego Aponte, CEO, Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC), had visited Tehran to discuss the business opportunities. There he met his counterpart Mohammad Hossein Dajmar, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) post-sanctions on July 15.
After Iran got relief from sanctions, the world’s container lines are rushing to call the Middle Eastern state. France’s CMA CGM’s 11,500-TEU containership Andromeda is set to call Shahid Rajaee Port in August, as part of its Asia-Europe loop.
Earlier, due to the trade sanctions on Iran, countries transshipped all import cargo to the Middle East Gulf. Now, with changed business environment, these international shipping companies can ship their cargoes directly to Iran. This initiative would help the stakeholders to save delivery time and costs.
