TEHRAN - Iran has launched a new loading platform at Imam Khomeini port in the southern Iranian province of Khuzestan to enhance commodity transmission further, IRNA reported.

Following the launch of dock 34 in the Imam Khomeini port, a tanker docked to load a cargo of 40,000 metric tons (mt) of furnace oil, said an official in the Ports and Maritime Department in Iran’s Khuzestan province.

With the project's operation, the port's capacity for unloading and loading petroleum materials increased by at least 6,000 mt per day, Davoud Chegani noted.

The dock 34 is capable of accepting oil vessels up to 45,000 mt, he further noted.

Imam Khomeini port presently features five docks which are able to provide daily services of loading and unloading, he underlined.

In late December last year, Iranian private companies signed investment deals and memorandums valued at 90 trillion rials (about $180 million) to implement development projects at Imam Khomeini Port.

The mentioned contracts were signed in a ceremony attended by Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash on the occasion of Transportation Week.

According to the Head of Ports and Maritime Department of southwestern Khuzestan Province Abutaleb Gerailo, four of the mentioned deals worth 21.5 trillion rials (about $43 million) were concluded between the Ports and Maritime Department of Khuzestan Province and private sector investors to increase the capacity of loading and unloading of goods at the port.

The construction of storage tanks for petroleum products with a capacity of 40,000 cubic meters, the construction of a light hydrocarbon production refinery, a gamma irradiation system, and Arvand petrochemical saltwater transmission lines are among the projects that the private sector is going to invest in.

Gerailo stated that the completion of the commodity trading chain, the creation of value-added services, the development of the export of oil products, and the expansion of production activities in the Special Economic Zone of Imam Khomeini Port are among the goals of concluding the mentioned investment contracts.

The other five investment contracts worth 68.590 trillion rials (about $140 million) were signed to develop investment opportunities and increase the capacity of unloading and loading goods in the Imam Khomeini Port Special Economic Zone.

The official further noted that the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) is following new policies to create specialized terminals for the loading and unloading of goods, and in this regard, the completion of four mechanized terminals for grains, container cargoes, and minerals at the special economic zone of Imam Khomeini Port have been prioritized.

Imam Khomeini Port is a seaport at the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf near Ahvaz, the center of Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province.

Opened in 1960 with two berths, the port is Iran’s second-largest operating port after Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Hormozgan province.

Considering its importance in Iran’s trade, the development of Imam Khomeini Port has always been a priority for the Iranian government.

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