Русский
A delegation from Iran’s IRISL Shipping Line has been visiting Russia’s Astrakhan region, with meetings held to discuss developing cooperation in shipbuilding and ship repair. The discussions included the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Energy of the Astrakhan region, Vitaly Shchepin; the Deputy Minister of External Relations of the Astrakhan region, Ilya Toropitsyn; the Director of Stroylyderplus LLC, Rustam Khalitov; and Ahmad Heydarian, the Consul General of Iran in Astrakhan.
Shchepin stated that the local Astrakhan shipyards have considerable experience in implementing multiple maritime projects, building tankers, dry cargo ships, passenger vessels, dredgers, tugs, fishing trawlers, and self-propelled and non-self-propelled dredgers, as well as performing a full range of ship repair work. He said that “For the Caspian region, this is especially important given the intensive shipping and the development of the international North-South route. We view cooperation with Iranian partners in the fields of shipbuilding and ship repair as a promising direction for joint work.”
Rustam Khalitov, General Director of Stroylyderplus LLC, spoke about the practical capabilities of his company, saying that “Our company provides a full range of services to shipping companies and shipbuilding enterprises: design, construction, and repair of vessels of various types and classes, having at its disposal a production and technical base, as well as a design bureau. Non-self-propelled cutter suction dredgers, scows, tugs, and other vessels were built at our production site. All of them are equipped with our products, including the control system.”
Mohammadreza Modarres-Khiabani, General Director of IRISL, noted that as the largest company in Iran, IRISL is interested in the construction and modernisation of the fleet and port infrastructure in the Caspian Sea. It has invested significant funds in the development of Astrakhan Port, the controlling stake of which belongs to Iranian businesses.
Kambiz Jahanbani, General Director of Khazar Sea Shipping Lines, spoke about Iran’s need for fleet renewal. He noted that over the next 10 years, more than 250 vessels nearing the end of their operating lives require replacement.
The meeting participants agreed to study options for developing cooperation in shipbuilding and ship repair in detail. Specifically, they discussed possibilities for organising joint production, conducting specialised training courses on ship design, internships for specialists, and more.
IRISL delegation members visited the Caspian Institute of Sea and River Transport, where the parties discussed possible options for cooperation in retraining and advanced training for Iranian maritime specialists in detail, including in English. Further Iranian investment into Astrakhan can be expected.
