Nizami Ganjavi 4 catamaran landing craft (L-CAT)

Bow view of Iran's newly constructed Nizami Ganjavi 4 catamaran landing craft (L-CAT), as built at  Farasahel Ship Building complex under the supervision of Bahr Gostaresh Hormuz, near Bandar Abbas. [source: Mehr News Agency, dated 27OCT14]

Nizami Ganjavi 4 on slipway for launch

Nizami Ganjavi 4 claimed "capable of carrying 90 automobiles, 20 containers and 20 trucks," according to Mehran Broushan, director of the project. [Source: Mehr News Agency]

Stern view of catamaran-type hull of Nizami Ganjavi 4 landing craft. Previously constructed Nizami Ganjavi landing crafts employ conventional, single-hull type design.

For comparative sizing of Nizami Ganjavi 4 landing craft, see below:

Above is Iranian-built Nizami Ganjavi 3 landing craft. Built in 2007, vessel gross tonnage is 487, deadweight 1000 t, with length x breadth of 49.5m x 15m. Nizami Ganjavi series of landing crafts typically shuttle machinery, cargo containers and vehicles between ports in Iran and UAE.

Photos: Ahmad Jafari at Mehr News Agency, and "reshadsol"

Iran's added crude oil tankers from Chinese shipyards

File photo, recent NITC addition: Sunrise (formerly Chun He 120) - IMO 9615092  [shipspotting.com] 

According to the World Tribune (8/9/13):

Iran has taken delivery of new oil supertankers. The National Iranian Tanker Co. has acquired four new supertankers in mid-2013 as part of efforts to maintain the nation’s crude oil export industry.

The supertankers were said to have a capacity of two million barrels each. Iran’s state-owned Press TV said China plans to complete the delivery of the vessels by 2014.

Previously, according to Reuters (2/5/13):

Iran has taken delivery of several new tankers from Chinese shipyards, giving it greater flexibility in maintaining oil exports in the face of Western sanctions.

Since the start of 2013, two supertankers have joined Iran’s trading fleet, with another three new vessels having arrived in recent months, according to industry sources and shipping data. Each vessel has a maximum capacity of 2 million barrels of oil.

With the latest acquisitions, NITC’s supertanker fleet has been boosted to 30 vessels with a maximum carrying capacity of 60 million barrels. It has an additional 14 small crude oil tankers.

The Atlantis and Infinity, the two vessels that joined NITC’s fleet in recent weeks, are part of a $1.2 billion contract with two Chinese shipyards that was ordered in 2009 for 12 new supertankers. The Carnation, Rainbow and Skyline reached NITC last year.

Below is a partial rundown on Iran's recent tanker additions [source: Martime-Connector.com]: 

IMO 9569205 - Carnation - Flag Tanzania (8/2: Persian Gulf 26.96538 / 56.419418, 0.4 kn / 311°)

IMO 9569619 - Rainbow - Flag Tanzania (8/6: Malacca Strait 3.72438 / 99.984009, 14.6 kn / 311°)

IMO 9569669 - Skyline - Flag Tanzania ( NA )

IMO 9569695 - Dew Drop - Flag Tanzania (8/13: N. China coast 38.874668 / 122.0592, 0.2 kn / 319°)

IMO 9569700 - Deniz - Flag Tanzania (8/12: Persian Gulf 26.78751 / 52.76046, 12.5 kn / 300°)

IMO 9569712 - Dusk - Flag Tanzania (7/24: near Singapore 1.230638 / 103.461, 12 kn / 268°)

IMO 9569621 - Atlantis - Flag Tanzania (7/27: near S. India coast 10.23946 / 75.302139, 13.7 kn / 354°)

IMO 9569671 - Infinity - Flag Tanzania (8/13: C. China coast 29.955669 / 121.8143, 0 kn / 17°)

IMO 9569683 - Demos - Flag Tanzania (8/12: Persian Gulf 26.193119 / 54.494492, 13.6 kn / 102°)

IMO 9615092 - Sunrise - Flag Tanzania (7/15: Persian Gulf 26.17207 / 55.367729, 15.1 kn / 58°)

IRIS Fahim launched for further construction

IRIS Fahim being moved to an outfitting dock for completion

 According to PressTV:

Iran’s first domestically manufactured ocean-going tanker has begun its maiden voyage in the Persian Gulf waters.

The tanker, manufactured by Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex Co. (ISOICO), was launched on Sunday in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

In one of its latest shipbuilding projects, Iran delivered the first Aframax tanker made for the Venezuelan national oil company, PDVSA, in October 2012.

Sorocaima built for Venezuela by the Islamic Republic of Iran 

Video (Persian)

Iran Cargo Ship Breaks Arrest in Sri Lanka

An Iranian-flagged cargo ship MV Amina has broken arrest and fled from waters around Sri Lanka after weeks of detention by the country’s navy acting on a court order obtained by Germany's DVB Bank SE, Reuters reported today.

The vessel is managed by Tehran-based Rahbaran Omid Darya, a private company working for the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL). The company is under U.N. sanctions.

The MV Amina was seized in December after DVB Bank obtained an order on 12 December from the Colombo High Court to hold the vessel after the owners defaulted on a payment. Court documents showed that DVB Bank sought to recover millions of dollars.

File photo: An IRISL cargo ship (IRISL)

EU Approves New Sanctions Against Iran

Nearly Total Embargo on Iran

The European Union approved major new sanctions against Iran's banking sector, shipping and industry on Monday. The new measures, amounting to nearly total embargo on Iran, were approved by EU foreign ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg.

“Restrictive measures and conclusions on Iran (were) adopted,” said an EU statement. (Reuters, 15 October)

The measures include a ban on all financial transactions with Iran, with some exceptions for those involving humanitarian aid, food and medicine. In a reversal of existing European policy, the ban will require European traders to apply to their governments for authorization before they can finance any transaction with Iran. Meaning all transactions are forbidden unless individually approved by the government, closing many existing loopholes and amounting to nearly total embargo on Iran. The EU also bans trade guarantees with Iran.

The new sanctions also include a ban on providing shipbuilding technology and oil storage capabilities to Iran, as well as flagging and classification services to Iranian tankers. At present, the EU is the major supplier of engines and parts to Iran’s shipbuilding industry.

To read the EU's press release, please click here.

Iran Builds Its First Oil Tanker – Exports to Venezuela (2)

Photos of Iran's Aframax oil tanker in stages of development

















Per OSGEOINT:

Iran is in the process of launching its first domestically produced Aframax tanker constructed by the Iran Marine Industrial Co. (SADRA) at the Bushehr island shipyard. The current ship is reportedly 113-tons and will be  delivered to Venezuela in the following year.

In building the ship, Iran originally contracted Polish advisers in January 2008 but were eventually replaced by a South Korean engineering company, according to Iran's PressTV and other open sources.

Reza Abdolmajid, a SADRA spokesman, says the ship costs around 52 million Euros to manufacture; however Venezuela reportedly paid 110 million Euros for each of the four Aframax ships on order.

Abdolmajid went on to say that SADRA was currently working on two Aframax tankers concurrently and noted that they were 60 and 22 percent complete.

Photos: Mehr News Agency, Sadra and OSGEOINT

Pirates attack Iranian ship

A 158,000-ton Iranian Sousangerd ship carrying crude oil to Spain has escaped an attack by ten Somali pirates who attempted to hijack the ship in the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the Gulf of Aden according to a National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) official [Press TV 11/07/2010].

This was the fourth attempt by Somali pirates to hijack an Iranian ship in the region this year, the previous three of which were also unsuccessful.

Somali Pirates Free Iranian Vessel

Somali pirates today abandoned the hijacked Iranian vessel SAAD 1. The ship was hijacked five months ago and had been anchored off Somalia’s Indian Ocean port of Garacad. On Sunday, the pirates set sail in the captured ship, but they encountered the Italian frigate Scirocco that was patrolling nearby. The pirates then abandoned SAAD 1 and returned to Garacad in a dinghy, said Shona Lowe, the NATO anti-piracy spokeswoman [AP, 18 March].

Iran Denies Attack on Vessel

An Iranian military spokesman has denied a report published by the Egyptian newspaper Al Aosbo on Monday claiming that an Iranian ship laden with weapons bound for the Gaza Strip was torpedoed off the coast of Sudan last week, allegedly by Israeli or American forces operating in the area.

“The report is in line with foreigners' psychological warfare and is unworthy,” the informed official told Fars News Agency on condition of anonymity [FNA, 29 April].

Report: Iran Ship Destroyed off Sudan

The Egyptian weekly El Aosboa has reported that an Iranian ship laden with weapons bound for the Gaza was torpedoed off the coast of Sudan last week, allegedly by Israeli or US forces operating in the area. [El Aosboa, 24 April. http://www.elaosboa.com/elosboa/issues/628/01007.asp].

No independent confirmation of the incident was available.