158 New Vessels to be Added to Iran's Shipping Fleet

Some 158 new vessels are going to be added to Iran’s shipping fleet, IRIB reported on Sunday, quoting the head of the Industry Ministry’s Supreme Maritime Council. “We have the construction of 158 vessels on the agenda; about 62%-70% of which will be built inside the country, “Siamak Seyyed Marandi said. According to Marandi, the development of the maritime industry has been considered as one of the main priorities of the industry ministry and the necessary planning has been carried out in this regard.

Focusing on the development of the production and reliance on domestic production are the two main features considered in the planning for the development of the country’s maritime industry, the official said. Talking about other measures taken for the development of the country's maritime sector, he said: "With regard to the replacement of worn-out vessels, the necessary plans have been made for benefiting from domestic capacities since we would like to use domestic infrastructure for the replacement of such vessels.”

Back in November 2019, Director of Supply and Equipment Engineering at Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) announced the organization’s plans for entrusting the country’s private sector with the construction of 92 vessels within the next two years.

“We have plans to hold tenders for awarding the construction projects of 92 small and large-scale vessels by the end of the [Iranian calendar] year of 1399 [March 20, 2021], the contracts for building nine of which worth €112 million has already been signed,” Farhad Montaser Kouhsari said.

According to the official, plans were also made for holding tenders for the construction of 78 large and small coastal service ships and boats worth about €205 million, all of which will be constructed by the end of next year. - Tehran Times