The implementation of state sovereignty on the coasts and ports to provide the necessary facilities for expansion of maritime commerce, coastal communications and collection of the prevalent emolument and tolls are parts of PMO duties which were set at 25 November 1814 AD.

 In 1949, the General Agency of Ports and Shipping was founded in Roads Ministry instead of General Directorate of Ports.

On 25th May 1960, the General Agency of Ports and Shipping was changed to Ports and Shipping Organization and its responsibilities and authorities were increased.

On 31st May 1961, this organization was transferred to the Department of Commerce, and on 11th March 1963 or after the formation of the Ministry of Economy, it turned to a subsidiary of this ministry.

On 20th September 1964, the maritime law, which was arranged in 194 articles, came into force and since 3rd July 1966 the Ports and Shipping Organization was separated from Ministry of Economy and became subordinate to the Ministry of Finance with all its budget, employees, and properties based on the law.

In 1974, this organization was again separated from the Ministry of Finance and joined the Roads and Transportation Ministry. According to the decree of the Guardian Council, which was sent to the Islamic Consultative Assembly by a letter, the name of Ports and Shipping Organization was changed to Ports and Maritime Organization and all the rules and regulations which were dominant in Ports and Shipping Organization were exactly applied in the Ports and Maritime Organization.

Mission & Function

Organizing the affairs related to Iranian sea ports and commercial shipping

Establishing, complementing and expanding buildings, installations and repair areas designed for sea port activities and commercial shipping as well as providing the related facilities and equipment and operating them

Preparing, adopting and implementing regulations and legislations related to port and maritime activities and commercial shipping, in accordance with the relevant national, regional and international requirements

Regulating the issues related to ship pilotage as per the decisions and approvals of the ports and Maritime Organization High Council

Exerting full supervision over the issues related to the coastal and commercial shipping activities, with an eye on the attempts for their development and guaranteeing safety and security of maritime activities, not to forget taking any other action that would be deemed necessary for the progress and promotion of coastal and commercial shipping;

Organizing and installing navigation lights, signals and other aids at seas and in rivers in order to guarantee safety of shipping in waterways

Registering ships and vessels of commercial, recreational and other functionalities under the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and maintaining them in compliance with the relevant requirements

Issuing certificates of different kinds, such as technical competence, maritime, and so on, for the personnel working on board maritime units in accordance with the relevant requirements

Quality Policies

In order to promote the organization and achieve the demands of the stakeholders, in addition to compliance with IMO laws, regulations and requirements, the Ports and Maritime Organization has applied the quality management system based on ISO9001:2008 standard and the information security management system based on ISO27001:2013 and put them into action with cooperation of all the staff and managers in all the organizational levels.

While announcing the belief and commitment to continuous improvement of the quality management and information security management systems, the headlines of PMO general quality policy are as follows:

 Increasing the capacity and throughput exploitable from commercial and passenger ports

Promoting the position and role of Port and Maritime Organization at the international levels

Promotion of the qualitative and quantitative level of port and maritime services to be safe, secure and clean

Providing legal, administrative, and financial grounds for attracting national and foreign investments and cooperation of private sector

Improving total factor productivity (TFP)

Increasing the social responsibility with an emphasis on customer orientation to enhance the level of service quality and accountability

Developing the capabilities of human resources through upgrading educational standards and applying the human resources competency model

Facilitating laws and regulations related to port and marine activities

Availability of information related to PMO business processes, preventing unauthorized access to this information, and ensuring its authenticity and integrity

Continuously monitoring the vulnerabilities and security threats, decreasing the risk level of IT assets and preventing information security events.