Azerbaijan, Baku, Jul.7/ Trend F.Karimov/
Iran will buy three new oil tankers for its shipping lines, the Mehr News Agency reported.
The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company will add three 35000-ton tankers, either new or second-hand.
The country holds currently 11 oil tankers. The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company managing director Mostafa Kasjkouli said that in addition to the tankers, one thousand road tankers will be also added to the national fleet.
The country's oil products shipment fleet includes six 35,000-ton ships, two 11,000-ton and 30,000-ton tankers, one 6500-ton natural gas carrier, and three landing crafts, with a total capacity of 250,000 tons.
The three tankers are estimated to cost $60 million.
National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), which has a fleet with a carrying capacity of at least 76 million barrels of oil, has been blacklisted by the West as part of tougher sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program.
Having more tankers gives Iran more trading options including storage, but NITC is under enormous pressure, constantly having to adapt and also deal with poor tanker market conditions, a ship industry source said. "They face a tougher time ahead."
U.S. and European Union measures aimed at choking the flow of oil money into Iran have cut around a million barrels per day from Iran's crude exports. China along with the other main buyers of Iranian crude - India, Japan and South Korea - have been under pressure since last year to reduce imports.