Last week Antwerp Port Authority signed a collaboration agreement with Shahid Rajaee Port Authority which controls the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran, the company said in its press release.
Bandar Abbas accounts for 90% of the in- and outgoing containers of Iran and for nearly half of the 200 million tonnes of freight handled by the 11 Iranian ports put together. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed at the headquarters of the Ports & Maritime Organisation in Teheran which is responsible for managing these 11 ports. The agreement runs for a period of five years, after which it can be renewed.
Until 2010 Antwerp was the most important European destination port for Iranian cargo, before sanctions were applied. Then in March this year the Iranian shipping company IRISL returned to Antwerp with the first container ship since sanctions were lifted. Not only container traffic but also breakbulk and bulk freight are expected to expand rapidly in the next few months.
Under the terms of the MoU the respective port authorities of Antwerp and Bandar Abbas will join forces so that companies in both ports can collaborate closely once more and develop trade between the two regions. This will involve among other things exchanging information on statistics and port development projects, as well as collaboration in the field of training. With its training subsidiary APEC the port of Antwerp has its own institute specialised in giving all sorts of tailor-made training courses.