BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 17
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Iran intends to establish a new major port on the Makran coast (over the Indian Ocean) in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province (southeastern Iran), Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development and Chairman of the Iranian Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Mohammad Rastad said, Trend reports citing PMO.
Rastad added that a number of studies have been conducted in this regard.
The deputy minister noted the importance of the time of the new port creation and use of existing potential.
The chairman stressed that investment in the port should be directed to the construction of infrastructure as soon as possible.
"It will take five years to establish a new port in the region," he said.
Rastad added that at present, the main port on the Makran coast of Iran is the Shahid Beheshti port, which is part of Chabahar port.
The deputy minister noted that currently, 8.8 million tons of cargo a year is loaded and unloaded in the port.
"With the commissioning of the second phase of the Shahid Beheshti port, the annual loading and unloading capacity of cargo at the port will increase to 33 million tons," he said.
More than 251,000 tons of cargo was loaded and unloaded in the Chabahar port during the first four months of the current Iranian year (March 20-July 21, 2020). About 593 tons of products were exported and 84,000 tons of products were imported through this port. More than 20,000 tons of cargo were transited through this port.