Iran considers establishing another oceanic port in Gulf of Oman
Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Mohammad Rastad has said the country is seriously considering the establishment of another oceanic port on the Makran coastal strip (in the Gulf of Oman).
Head of Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) Mohammad Rastad has said the country is seriously considering the establishment of another oceanic port on the Makran coastal strip (in the Gulf of Oman).
Currently, Chabahar which is located in Sistan-Balouchestan Province, in southeastern Iran, is the country’s only oceanic port.
Speaking to the national TV on Monday evening, Rastad noted that Makran coasts can play a significant role in Iran’s future maritime trade exchanges, the PMO news portal reported.
Emphasizing that currently, the main port of the country on the Makran coasts is Chabahar’s Shahid Beheshti Port, the official said: "Very good capacities have been created in this port and the capacity of the port has increased up to four times, from two million to 8.8 million."
According to Rastad, the second phase of the Shahid Beheshti port development project will increase the capacity of this port to 33 million tons per year.
Regarding the latest situation of loading and unloading of goods in the country’s ports, the official said: "Since the beginning of the [current Iranian calendar] year (March 20), about 47 million tons of goods have been loaded and unloaded in the country's ports."
He also mentioned the domestic capacity for production of marine and port equipment and noted that most of the equipment and vessels used by the PMO in various operations like marine search and rescue, as well as dealing with marine pollution, can be manufactured inside the country and the MPO has shifted its focus for supplying its needs to the use of domestic products.
“One of the great steps taken by the Ports and Maritime Organization in this field is that 83 vessels required by the organization will be built by domestic contractors and the amount of credit provided in this project is 240 million Euros, which is considered a very large project. It can and will boost the country's maritime industry and create good employment,” he added.
Rastad further mentioned the indigenization of the knowledge for producing maritime equipment and vessel parts and said: “so far, we have managed to manufacture 768 items using the capabilities of the domestic companies…, the production of these parts by domestic producers is over 70 percent more cost-efficient.”
Located in the southern part of the Sistan-Balouchestan province, Makran is a semi-desert coastal strip along the coast of the Gulf of Oman.
