Iranian Official: North-South Corridor Begins Operation with 1st Shipment

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) began operation with the first shipment from Russia to India, the head of Iranian-Russian port Solyanka in the Astrakhan region said.
Dariush Jamali, the head of the Iranian-Russian port of Solyanka in the Astrakhan region in the north of the Caspian Sea said on Saturday that the first shipment using the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) will embark on its journey from St. Petersburg, Russia, and after being transferred to the port of Astrakhan of Russian Federation, it will enter Iran via the Caspian Sea.
Jamali said that the shipment contains two 40-foot containers containing wood laminate weighing 41 tons.

He added that the transit operation is being carried out by the regional bureau of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL Group) in Russia (ITS International Transport & Shipping of Iran in Russia) in cooperation with the logistics companies of IRISL Group in India. He also said that the shipment will enter the Anzali Free Zone in the north of Iran under a national bill of lading and then be transported to Bandar Abbas on lorries and from there the containers will be transported to the port of Nhava Sheva in India as their final destination. Jamali added that according to the signed agreements on the transportation of large numbers of shipments from Russia and Belarus to India through the ports of Astrakhan, this first cargo is considered the beginning of the foreign transit boom in the International North-South Transport Corridor and in the near future will see prosperity in the field of transit through INSTEC generating lots of income for the governments of Russia, Iran and India. - Mehr