TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO)’s Deputy Head for Ports and Economic Affairs Farhad Montaser Kouhsari says there has been no growth in the northern ports of the country in the past eight years and the country will seek Russia’s help to boost the northern ports.
Touching upon the condition and capacity of northern ports and elaborating the woes and hurdles in the northern ports for load and unload, Kouhsari said that the capacity of northern ports for imports and exports of various goods is around 30m tons, and currently only 6m tons of its total capacity is used but it can be enhanced with developing the transit.
He also pointed to the ply of ro-ro ships in the northern ports of the country for increasing the shipment of goods, and said ro-ro train and ro-ro of trucks are active in the Caspian Sea and almost 70 percent of the ro-ro ships active there is of the truck type. He added that ro-ro ships can dock in all northern ports.
He went on to say that in the past, transiting trucks used to pass through Turkmenistan to get Kazakhstan and from there, they could reach Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Bishkek Port but currently, the trucks can get Kuryk Port of Kazakhstan via Anzali Port.
He reiterated that in case it is welcomed by the transportation companies, this line would be reinforced and the organization can use more ro-ro ships in this line.
He also announced negotiations with a Russian company to increase the number of ro-ro ships in this line, adding that the talks with Russians are underway and the second ship in the Anzali Port-Noshahr Port-Amirabad Port route to Astara Khan Port will be launched and this ship can also be active in the Olya-Anzali Ports or Olya-Amirabad Ports in order to transfer transiting trucks from Iran or Turkey to Russia or vice versa by the sea.
Kouhsar noted that the organization provides required infrastructures in order to prevent any problem on course to developing exports in the ports, adding that he had talks on transit with the head of free zone of Russia in Moscow. He added that the talks should continue with Russia and India to pick up transit en route of India and Chabahar Port and Shahid Rajaee Port as well as the northern ports and the ties with Russia should be stronger which can help the capacity of the national ports to increase.
He admitted that in the past eight years the northern ports have not experienced any growth and there has been no change in its 6-million-ton capacity.
