New Managing Director of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) Sirous Kianersi made the remarks saying “presently, capacity of vessels belonging to NITC has climbed to over 15.5 million tons per year.”
He reiterated that NITC owned that world’s largest crude oil tanker flotilla and touched upon expansion of the country’s fleet in the post-JCPOA era asserting “in the era emerged following removal of international sanctions, Iran’s tanker fleet have directly served the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for crude oil exports.”
The official emphasized that given the removal of sanctions and certain limitations, a number of Iranian tankers have been lent out to giant European oil companies like Spain’s Cepsa, Eni of Italy as well as the Netherlands; “nevertheless, renewal and development of the current tanker fleet has been put on the agenda.”
When asked whether domestic manufacturers possessed necessary capabilities for building new tanker ships, Kianersi explained that expansion of tanker fleet would be carried out on the basis of Resistance Economy policies.
NITC head said domestic capacities will be exploited in case Iranian manufacturers are able to build ships in accordance with international standards; “in order to commute in uncharted waters, oil tankers need to enjoy certain mandatory standards which should be taken into account by domestic ship builders.”
Sirous Kianersi also pointed to influence of the plunge in crude prices on revenues of Iranian tankers stating “the decline in oil prices has undoubtedly lowered earnings of NITC.”
Referring to the emergence of a crisis in transport of crude since global oil prices plummeted, he reiterated that “overall, incomes of NITC have been reasonable in the meantime.”
NITC managing director has recently reported on signing 35 lease contracts for lending out Iranian tankers to several European oil firms.