Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 29
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) welcomes boosting cooperation with Greek firms, Sirous Kian Ersi, managing director of the NITC, said.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Greek Ambassador to Tehran Georgios Ayfantis Oct. 29, SHANA news agency reported.
Kian Ersi further said the company is studying a memorandum of understanding which was signed with Greek shipping company George Moundreas and Company S.A. last February to safeguard maximum interests of the two sides.
Kian Ersi further said the NITC and the Greek companies can cooperate in various fields, including finance, renting ships, sailor training, and LNG.
Ayfantis, for his turn, said that various cooperation fields exist for boosting ties between the NITC and Greek companies.
He further expressed hope that the memorandum between NITC and George Moundreas and Company will be implemented as soon as possible.
NITC, the privatized Iranian shipping company, says it has 70 tankers, including 42 very large crude carriers, known as VLCCs, after buying 20 such China-built vessels in recent years.
Iran was forced to rely more on NITC, the former state-owned shipping company, to transport crude oil after Europe imposed sanctions on Iran and banned insurers from covering ships carrying the Iranian crude.
Under the sanctions, Iran's oil export was limited to certain countries, including China, India, South Korea and Turkey, which was mainly carried by the NITC fleet.
