Baku, Azerbaijan, April 28
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: China's COSCO Container Lines is studying the possibility of resuming operation at Iranian ports.
Wu Jinping, Director General of the Chinese International Shipping Line 'COSCO', paid a visit toIran's Shaid Rajaee port, which is the largest container port in the country, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on April 28.
Wu Jinping promised to talk with senior officials of the company about resuming operation at the Iranian port.
China's COSCO Container Lines, the world's 5th largest international shipping company, ended its ties with Iranin June 2013.
"All of COSCO's business to and from Iran was suspended," said a Shanghai-based company official, citing a company statement saying lines to Iran stopped in early June and those leaving Iran ended in early July.
The loading and unloading capacity of Iran's Shahid Rajaee port currently stands at 88 million tons.
The port also has the capacity to load and unload 6 million TEU containers (twenty-foot equivalent unit),Iran's IRNA News reported on April 27.
Deputy Director of Hormozagan province's Ports and Maritime Organization, Mojtaba Khoshniat, said that the port is becoming a key port in the region.
"Currently 145,000-ton ships and the 7th generation ships with the capacity to carry 15,000 TEUs can easily load and unload goods at the port," he explained.
Shahid Rajaee port is located in Hormozgan province in the South of Iran. Hormozgan province has more than 2,400 km of sea border with shores in both Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea. It is close to the Strait of Hormuz, the most important maritime trade route.
"The port accounts for 55 per cent of Iran's imports, exports, and transits in the region," Khoshniat explained.
Edited by C.N.