The MoU was signed on Oct. 13 and took effect on Oct. 23.
Davoud Tafti, the CEO of Khazar Sea Shipping Lines, and Alireza Peymanpak, the head of TPO, signed the agreement to expand these marine transportation lines to eight by the end of the current Iranian year in March 2022, Fars News Agency reported.
“As per the MoU recently signed with TPO, freight will be transported as per a regular schedule between the Iranian ports of Amirabad, Anzali and Noshahr and Russia’s Makhachkala and Astrakhan, and Kazakhstan’s Aktau Port. Two other optional routes, from Iran’s Astara and Fereydounkenar ports, have been included in the MoU, to carry cargo to the ports of Russia and Kazakhstan on demand,” Tafti was quoted as saying by ILNA.
TPO, affiliated with the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, has also agreed to compensate for any possible financial loss on the part of Khazar Sea Shipping Lines Company.
In a similar move, TPO had signed an MoU with Khazar Sea Shipping Lines Company over two years ago, but that agreement was not as detailed and well-planned as the one signed this time, which shows the organization is determined to play its part in increasing foreign trade.
According to the official, Khazar Sea Shipping Lines Company has the capacity to transport 200,000 tons of cargo per year, as container loading and unloading capacity amounts to around 6,000 TEUs per year.
The company has 23 vessels under its name, 15 of which can carry containers.
The infrastructures are ready for commodity transit from Iran's southern ports to the north and through Caspian Sea, the CEO told Trend News Agency in an interview.
"We are interacting with southern ports and commodity owners and company branches in China, Russia, South Korea, Singapore and India for the marketing of cargo transportation in the International North-South Transport Corridor and Iran's East-West Transit Corridor to Eurasian countries," he explained.