Iran plans $2.5bn oil tanker expansion
Iran is renting its oil tankers to foreigners after the lifting of sanctions and plans $2.5 billion of investment to renovate and expand the fleet, a senior official says.
“After two years of constant efforts, two important plans of the National Iranian Tankers Company including a five-year strategic program and investment were approved,” its managing director Ali Akbar Safa'ei said on Sunday.
“This program includes $2.5 billion of investment in various sectors which will herald a bright future for the company in diversifying its income basket and expanding its activities,” he said.
Safa'ei touched on the interest shown by foreign banks and financial institutions in resuming cooperation with Iran, saying NITC was the first Iranian company to resolve issues related to obtaining finance.
NITC is also “the first Iranian company able to rent its ships to foreign firms after the cancellation of sanctions,” he added.
Iran owns the world’s largest fleet of oil supertankers consisting of 42 VLCCs (very large crude carriers), each able to carry 2 million barrels of oil.
With sanctions in place, NITC didn’t scale back activities. Instead it put orders for the construction of 20 VLCCs with Chinese companies which have delivered them over the past two and half years.
Two Chinese firms are being cited pushing for multi-billion dollar deals with Iran to modernize its shipping fleet and build a high-speed railway.
Last month, Reuters quoted Chinese officials as saying that Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co was in discussions on building container ships and oil tankers for Iran.
State-run China National Transportation Equipment & Engineering Co Ltd (CTC) was also close to finalizing an agreement on the $3 billion rail project to connect Tehran with the northeastern holy city of Mashhad.
The report said top Dalian shipyard executives had visited Tehran three times since January, meeting their counterparts at NITC and the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), the country's top container and cargo carrier.
Chinese shipyards, including Dalian, reportedly built large oil tankers for NITC in an order worth $1.2 billion between 2012 and 2013.
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