Page 46 - IRANRptOct20

country had fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq used by US troops in retaliation for the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike at Baghdad Airport.
9.1.4​ Transport sector news
Iran and Russia agree to build up ro-ro and refrigerated cargo ship fleets for Caspian Sea trade
Iranian-flagged fuel tankers ‘round Cape of Good Hope bound for Venezuela’
Iran and Russia have agreed to strengthen their refrigerated transport fleets and Roll-on/Roll-off (ro-ro) ship capacities that are vital to trade flows moving along the north-south corridor linking the two countries via the Caspian Sea, an Iranian official has announced.
The agreement was announced by the director-general of the transit and logistics department of the Iranian Organisation of Ports and Navigation, Khosro Saraei, although no precise details of what the strengthening would involve were provided.
Iran-Russia trade has increased significantly since a temporary two-year preferential trade agreement (PTA) between the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Iran went into effect in October last year.
"As was mentioned during a [video-conferenced] meeting [of Iranian and Russian officials], the main problem of transit across the Caspian Sea is the need for the creation of logistics bases for transport and one of our main goals in terms of the ports, in particular the northern ports of Iran, is changing the business model [to achieve those logistics aims]. We are also looking to create the possibility of using reefer container ships, " Saraei said.
A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo vessel that carries perishable products. Saraei also said that the ports of Anzali and Amirabad were the most active ports in Iran’s north for loading and unloading.
The Donald Trump administration’s dislike of Iran supplying gasoline to fellow US-sanctioned country Venezuela is about to be stirred once more​. Two Iranian-flagged tankers transporting fuel are sailing round Africa’s Cape of Good Hope en route to the Atlantic Ocean, Refinitiv Eikon vessel tracking data showed on September 10.
The medium-size vessels Forest and Fortune, carrying about 300,000 barrels of fuel each loaded at Iran’s Bandar Abbas terminal last month, were bound for Venezuela, according to sources with knowledge of the shipment cited by Reuters.
Gasoline scarcity in Venezuela has reportedly worsened in recent days due to insufficient domestic production, leaving long queues of drivers waiting in front of stations. The situation has been caused by difficulties in attending to maintenance, repairs and operational requirements at the South American country’s refineries, with some mainly blaming US sanctions for the troubles and others pointing the finger at economic mismanagement by the Maduro administration.
Iran sent a first flotilla of five fuel-laden tankers to Venezuela between May and June. They arrived in Venezuelan state-run PDVSA ports without interference. But a second group of four Liberia-flagged tankers owned by a Greek shipping group did not arrive at the South American nation in July as the fuel was seized by Washington under a court order.
The Forest and Fortune have an estimated date of arrival later this month, the Eikon data also showed.
A third Iranian tanker of the same size that also loaded fuel in August at Bandar Abbas, the Faxon, has kept its transponder switched off since it set sail, the data showed. That makes it difficult for tracking systems to detect its
46​ IRAN Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com