TEHRAN (Iran News) Speaking at a press conference titled “One Publisher, One Monday,” hosted by the Tehran Stock Exchange, Khiabani highlighted that IRISL has been active in the capital market since 2008 and noted that its primary shareholders are retirement funds. The company operates with a fleet boasting a total cargo capacity of 5 million deadweight tons (DWT).

In addition to maritime transport, IRISL is also involved in rail and road logistics, although its non-maritime divisions are not solely dedicated to supporting the shipping operations, he explained.

Khiabani noted that IRISL holds the top regional position and ranks 18th globally in cargo transportation. The company’s fleet is active in both the Caspian Sea and southern Iranian ports and also engages in logistical, operational, and supply-related activities.

He also emphasized IRISL’s role in training maritime professionals, stating that 70% of the country’s seafarers have been trained through the company’s educational institute.

“All employees of the company, except 24 emergency personnel, are Iranian,” he said, adding that the number of foreign employees has significantly declined from 670 in 2019 to virtually zero today.

Khiabani referred to the 2019 mission when two IRISL oil tankers delivered gasoline to Venezuela, an action that received praise from Iran’s Supreme Leader. He also criticized the continued sanctions imposed by Western countries on IRISL, stating that the latest round of sanctions came last year from the European Union and the UK.

The IRISL CEO unveiled plans to establish a major logistics hub in Chabahar, noting its strategic potential for Iran in the coming years.

“We aim to develop Chabahar not only as a key logistics hub but also as part of our corporate social responsibility to contribute to the development of the Makran region,” he said.

In 2024, IRISL handled 86,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) containers through Chabahar, positioning it as the country’s second-largest container port. The company increased container traffic at the port from 6,000 TEUs in 2022 to 90,000 TEUs in 2024 and plans to further expand operations.

Khiabani emphasized the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s eight main maritime choke points—and said this has enabled the company to operate feeder services within the Persian Gulf.

He also noted that IRISL maintains offices in key international markets, including Europe, Russia, China, and India. The company aims to play a pivotal role in the North-South Transport Corridor, contingent on collaboration with other national and governmental entities.

In the Caspian region, IRISL manages the Russian port of Astrakhan, which has faced sanctions in recent years but remains one of the most active ports in Russia’s Caspian sector.

Khiabani acknowledged the need to modernize the fleet, which currently has an average age of 20 years, and expressed the goal of reducing that figure to under 10 years. He said necessary permits have been obtained to access bank loans and National Development Fund resources.

Despite receiving approval for a $1 billion loan last year, no funds have been disbursed yet. IRISL currently has $542 million in outstanding loans and repays $106 million annually to its creditor banks, he noted.

As part of its social responsibility initiatives, IRISL has built or renovated schools in port cities, believing that these efforts ultimately benefit shareholders.

Prior to the press conference, Khiabani participated in a ceremony marking the beginning of the trading session at the Tehran Stock Exchange, commemorating the 17th anniversary of IRISL’s listing as Iran’s national fleet.

He reported that IRISL’s profits surged over 90% in the Iranian calendar year 1403 (March 2024–March 2025), rising from 100 trillion rials in 1402 to 190 trillion rials in 1403. He expressed optimism that this growth would continue in 1404 (March 2025–March 2026), despite global shipping market fluctuations.

Looking ahead, IRISL plans to hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting in June to seek approval from the Securities and Exchange Organization to raise its capital from 82.5 trillion rials to 116 trillion rials.

He added that the “Hekashti” stock symbol has performed well in the first two months of 1404, gaining 32%, signaling a positive trend for the rest of the year.

Khiabani concluded by announcing that, for the first time in 12 years, IRISL’s financial statements for 1403 have been deemed “acceptable” by the Supreme Audit Court of Iran, underscoring a new level of financial transparency and governance.

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On the sidelines of TransRussia Exhibition in Moscow, Bayat touched upon Iran’s share of transit of Russian goods as well as South and East Asian countries and the actions taken for developing this market, and said that in line with the policies of the government for reinforcing ties with domestic traders and economists as well as Russian and Indian economists for expansion of the North-South Corridor, IRISL invested very much in the Caspian Sea.

He said that one of the investments is the ten-million-dollar investment in the Port of Solyanka, and the group has also signed an agreement for building and purchasing some 120 ships especial for ply in the Caspian Sea.

Bayat noted that IRISL is currently working on reinforcing the structures and infrastructures of transportation and therefore it has transformed a method for broadening trade exchange for transporting from India to Iran and Russia and vice versa.

He further said that on the sidelines of the exhibitions traders of many countries talked with IRISL and it shows that IRISL is now a famous brand under any condition.

Bayat reiterated that shipping in the Caspian Sea needs special ships, adding that Caspian Sea Shipping Line is the biggest and strongest shipping lines in the Caspian Sea and this company has 27 vessels and three more of vessels of omskiy type have been bought and will joint its fleet.

He went on to say that the group has signed an agreement for building four vessels that two of them are in their final stage of building.

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The group noted that with having road and rail transport facilities, the group is able to ship exports directly from the factories in any part of the country to the determined destination.

Regular transport of exports to Venezuela was one of the demands of Iranian companies and traders and it has been under consideration of the IRISL for some months and accordingly, the regular shipping line from Iran to Venezuela has been launched regularly for every two months basis.

The mentioned line with competitive fare and regular journey schedule has been carried out two times so far and the third shipment to Venezuela will be carried out in May.

The group noted despite announcement and promoting this service, only two auto making companies have welcomed it and other companies and exporters have not welcomed it so far and since the cost of dispatch of ocean liner ships on Iran-Venezuela route is very high, IRISL calls on all exporters and economic activists who are keen to export their products to Venezuela to take advantage of these services and facilities.

In late November, IRISL Group announced the launch of a direct shipping line to Venezuela.

The announcement said that the way the businesspeople from both sides welcome this shipping line would determine whether it would continue to operate or no.

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Speaking in the first national conference on marine civilization on course of progress, the CEO of IRISL Mr. Mohammad Reza Modarres Khiabani said IRISL has proved the world its national and international power, and the best example to this claim is the transportation of Iran oil to Venezuela with tankers belonging to the IRISL which could hoist the flag of Iran on two Venezuela-bound oil tankers.

He added that IRISL is active in different fields and it supports domestic human forces as well as having serious presence in international waterways in a way that this national fleet trains some 200 people annually who are volunteer to join the field of seafaring.

He noted that IRISL has 6700 staff that over 3700 of them are active in the field of seafaring while the group has currently 137 vessels with capacities of 5m tons, and expressed hope that on the course of progress which has been set by the group this capacity would rise.

Modarres Khiabani further said that the group currently has some 194,000 container boxes and the group has done some investment in parallel to possessing these containers and this year 40,000 TEU containers worth of $120m have been bought by the group. He added that this fleet also includes rail and road transportation which actually forms combined transportation which has been continued with 1200 freight wagon.

He noted that the group has transported over 16m tons of goods in 7 months which shows 4% growth comparing to the same period last year while the group has experienced 41% growth comparing to two years ago.

Modarres Khiabani reiterated that the group by defining a new policy has almost zeroed the number of its foreign personnel while in the past some 600 foreigners were busy in the group and only few have remained due some certain issues.

He also said that reinforcing the North-South and East-West corridor is one of the main strategic strategies of the IRISL and for this reason last week a regular line for shipping container cargo from Far East to Chabahar was launched that following it, a ship was to dock at Chabahar Port on Thursday night.

Modarres Khiabani went on to say that between 2022 and 2026 some $1.15b of investment has been considered for broadening sea-centered economy and $325m will be earmarked for the purchase of containers and on the whole $2.5b will be spent for increasing the number of vessels to the fleet to replace the old ones.

He stated that the group is working to shift from being a marine transportation company to become a logistic company and this requires some software and hardware tools which are being provided.

He said that development of Chabahar route is on the agenda and expressed hope all related executive bodies and countries in locating in this route do their jobs very well and IRISL is ready to do required cooperation in this regard.

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In line with the policies of the 13th government for broadening foreign trade with Russia and Caspian Sea countries, three ports of Makhachkala, Olya and TVS plus Salianka will serve Iran’s foreign trade and therefore the exporting destinations of the IRISL in the Caspian Sea has become more divers.

According to the public relations of the IRISL Group, IRISL in compliance with the policy of the government for broadening foreign trade with the Caspian Sea states has increased its exporting destinations in Russia and has added Makhachkala, Olya and VST ports to Salianka Port in Russia.

This decision of the group will accelerate load and unload operations as well as the plies of ships to Russian ports and it will help the amount of exports and transit of good increase.

It is expected by adding these three ports to the list of IRISL, the pace of plies and maximum using from the Russian ports as well as speed of load and unload will increase.

The addition of three ports will boost exports to Russia and it will also boost productivity of Caspia Sea shipping fleet which is very effective.

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The mentioned containers have been allocated to execute the first phase of a program for transiting Russian commodities to India via the mentioned corridor, the IRISL announced in a statement.

“According to the plans made by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, in the first phase, 300 containers have been considered for transporting cargos to Russia, and if the demand increases, the number of these containers will increase continuously,” the statement said.

As reported, IRISL has entered the operational phase of transporting cargos through the north-south corridor after completing a trial phase in June when commodities were transited from Russia to India and vice versa.

To be transited to India through the north-south corridor, Russian cargos depart St. Petersburg for the Caspian Sea port city of Astrakhan. From Astrakhan, the cargo crosses the length of the Caspian to the northern Iranian port of Anzali and then transferred by road to the southern port of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf. From there they are loaded onto a ship and sent to the Indian port of Nhava Sheva.

The north-south corridor was launched in the past with the aim of transiting goods between India and Europe through the southern ports of Iran via the Caspian Sea.

Despite the Iranian government’s great emphasis on the necessity of activating this path, it remained in the early stages of execution for many years; But now, due to new conditions and the disconnection of Russia and Europe, this corridor has come under the spotlight once again for the purpose of carrying transit cargos between India and Russia.

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Based on the provided data, IRISL has climbed one place from 15th in the entity’s list for the previous year. The IRISL’s capacity now takes up 0.6 percent of the world’s total shipping capacity.

The Alphaliner Top 100 is the ranking of the largest container or liner operators in terms of global capacity, taking into account the fleets of virtually all of the container operators worldwide.

In 2018, IRISL stood at the 19th place in Alphaliner’s Top 100 ranking, while the company held 22nd place in its preceding year.

According to IRISL Head Mohammadreza Modares Khiabani, IRISL currently has 150 active vessels, of which 32 are bulk carriers, 30 are container vessels, 22 are cargo carriers of general goods, 18 are service and passenger vessels, two are roll-on/roll-off, and three barges.

This year, the world’s largest container shipping company, the Danish Maersk has slid to the second place in the list of the world’s top 100 container/liner operators giving the first place to Swiss-Italian Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

Geneva-based MSC held second place in the previous year’s ranking.  Based on Alphaliner’s latest data, the company now owns 645 ships with a total container capacity of 4,284,728 TEU.

French container transportation and shipping company CMA CGM S.A. is ranked third with a total capacity of 3,182,157 TEU.

With 479 vessels and a total capacity of 2,932,779 TEU, the Chinese state-owned China Ocean Shipping Company, known as COSCO or COSCO Group is ranked as the world’s fourth-biggest shipping company.

Back in October 2021, Modares Khiabani had said that maritime transportation conducted by the IRISL fleet in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22, 2021) increased by 43 percent compared to the previous year’s same period.

“During the first five months of the current year, the revenue from foreign maritime transportation reached about $431 million to register a 100-percent growth compared to the same period of the previous year,” he said at the IRISL’s annual general assembly on October 10, 2021.

The official stated that sanctions restrictions along with the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the country’s shipping performance during the previous Iranian calendar year.

He described the sanctions as a debilitating factor in the way of IRISL activities, saying that “sanctions have made it difficult for us to supply parts for the vessels and also have significantly increased insurance costs.”

“IRISL has conducted 21 percent of the country’s total maritime transport this year, and fortunately, during these five months, not only the shipping performance of the IRISL has improved compared to the previous year, but also the situation of the group (IRISL) has improved much compared to [the Iranian calendar year] 1398 (ended in March 2020),” he said.

According to the official, the share of IRISL in the country’s total maritime transportation was 18 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year.

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IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – The deputy head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization Jalil Eslami says almost 90 percent of Iran’s trade is done by the sea and maritime transportation and seafarers are center of this activity and task.

Speaking on the occasion of international Day of Seafarer, Jalili said that the slogan of International Maritime Organization (IMO) on the Day of Seafarer is “seafarers are key component of maritime industry”.

He added that the provision chain of world trade is a long chain where seafarers have essential role in it and the world trade marches ahead due to seafarers’ efforts.

Eslami went on to say that almost 90 percent of Iran’s trade is done by the sea and support of maritime transportation and seafarers have a significant responsibility on their shoulders.

He added that Iran has experience of holding maritime courses for 34 years and this is the 11^th time that the country marks the Day of Seafarer.

He noted that over 20,000 maritime operations were carried out last year in the country’s trade ports for serving the vessels by seafarers.

Eslami added that over 16m maritime travelers enjoy marine services in south and north of Iran which are offered by sailors.

He said over 160m tons of goods have been loaded and unloaded in the ports where sailors have had great role in them.

Eslami reiterated that the country has some 130,000 registered sailors and the marine system needs new regulations and directives.

On the international front, he said the organization has several times submitted its protests to the IMO over the U.S. illegal pressures and threats.

Eslami noted that over 77,000 maritime documents have been issued by the organization for the seafarers and 600 training courses have been held and 40,000 people have attended the courses.

He further said the organization is to launch a think-tank by cooperation of seafarers soon in order that their problems and related issues to be resolved there.

Meanwhile in the ceremony, deputy head of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) said that unfortunately Iranian sailors have failed to show their capabilities internationally due to their passports and political reasons.

Captain Farshad Shahbaz said that seafarers need to have mastery over life skills, adding that in Iran one cannot find satisfied sailors as they take great woes with them from their houses to the sea.

He noted that unfortunately officials are not aware of the importance of Iran’s shipping line and oil tankers, adding that if the shipping line of ISIRL and oil tankers are not be able to continue their works, sanctions will bear fruit and the country will collapse.

Shahbaz reiterated that although seafarers get good salaries but being far from family ruins them and IRISL has tried to enliven incentives among seafarers by different means.

Meanwhile Head of Iran’s Port and Maritime Organization Mr. Mohammad Rastad said that although sanctions have created problems but the era of sanctions is transient and it will come to an end,

He said Iran’s maritime sector has good capacity which can serve the country.

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