IRISL Awards $7mn Shipbuilding Contract to Local Firms

Date: 11 December 2022 - 21:45

News ID: ۱۱۰۰۴۰

TEHRAN - Iran’s container shipper Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) has awarded a major contact for building two bunkering tankers to a domestic company, a first of its kind in the country amid efforts to offset US sanctions by supporting local manufacturing and jobs.
IRISL’s deputy head for fleet expansion Abdorreza Mohebi said that Iran’s Arvandan Shipbuilding Company will deliver two 800-ton multi-purpose tankers to IRISL’s bunkering agent GMSENG within the next 20 months based on a contract signed between the two companies earlier.
Mohebi said the IRISL will pay 2.140 trillion rials ($7 million) for the two ships which will boost bunkering services to company’s container ships once they are added to its fleet.
He said the contract will create 100 permanent jobs at Arvandan, a shipbuilder based in Iran’s southwestern Province of Khuzestan near the Karun River.
Iran has increasingly relied on domestic companies to satisfy its manufacturing demands in recent years. That has come as the country still remains under a series of US sanctions that ban foreign companies from engaging in deals with Iran.
Increased support for local manufacturers has also helped Iran create hundreds of thousands of jobs for its youth in recent years while also allowing for more exports to other countries.