Iran sets no limitations for return of liner companies: Official

A file photo of a vessel docked at Shahid Bahonar Port in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan

Iran sets no limitations for the return of shipping and liner companies to the country’s ports, a senior Iranian official says.

“After [the implementation of] the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), we are witnessing the return of major liner companies to Iran without any conditions or restrictions and this trend is still continuing,” Iran’s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development and Managing Director of Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Mohammad Saeid-Nejad said on Sunday.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16.

Under the nuclear agreement, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related bans imposed against Tehran.

Saeid-Nejad said all leading shipping lines are returning to Iran following the implementation of the JCPOA and removal of sanctions against the country, adding, “Currently, 17 major liner companies have entered Iran without any restriction or condition and are loading and unloading their cargoes with no problem.”

He noted that Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipper, resumed its services in Iran in October just for “trade-related reasons” and emphasized that political issues played no role in the decision made by the leading transport maritime company.

“Major liner companies can make a decision and enter Iran freely and in competitive conditions and by using the favorable market conditions,” the PMO head said.

Maersk Line on October 20 resumed calls to Iranian ports after a five-year hiatus and hoped that access to a new, rapidly growing market would help it through the current downturn.

“Global container trade has matured over the past years and is growing at a slower pace. Iran has the potential to be the market, which stands out with faster growth,” said Christian Juul-Nyholm, the managing director of Maersk Line's United Arab Emirates cluster.

The Danish shipping operator opened a new feeder service between Iran’s southern Bandar Abbas port and Dubai’s Jebel Ali. The new service will connect Iran with the all major Middle East trade routes of the largest container shipping operator through Port of Jebel Ali, providing fast access to the world largest markets.