Iran’s Maritime Resilience under Sanctions

The cargo carrying capacity of Iran’s shipping fleet in 2023 was about 19 million tons, and 137 vessels with a capacity of 5 million tons are owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Group.

In the oil sector, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) has a capacity of about 11 million tons.

Despite this relatively large capacity, challenges such as fleet obsolescence, insurance and banking sanctions, reduced operational capacity in high-risk areas, infrastructure bottlenecks in ports, poor vessel diversity, and lack of vessel storage capacity can hinder the effective operation of the fleet in crisis situations.

Therefore, although the current capacity of the fleet meets current needs, in crisis or sanctions situations, its full efficiency cannot be relied upon. According to Godazgar, Iran needs to increase the number, diversity, and quality of the fleet, as well as serious investment in the modernization and development of port and insurance infrastructure.