The Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) as the duly authorized maritime administration of the Islamic Republic of Iran reacted against the actions of the Governments of the United States and United Kingdom in preventing the Iranian hosting of the IMO Parallel Event of World Maritime Day in 2023, and declared in an official statement: “Such an action is a clear sign of desperation and pettiness of a few treacherous and oppressive governments, and will not weaken the resolve of the Iranian government and nation, and the port and maritime community thereof, to participate actively in IMO activities and progress toward sea-based economy.”

According to the official news website of the PMO, the above statements continued: “The hosting of the mentioned event in October 2023 was cancelled under the vain efforts of the American and British Governments, and the support of a few western governments foolishly following the US Government, under groundless accusations that Iran intended to jeopardize maritime safety and security. That is while Iran as a undisputed regional power continuously strives to promote maritime safety and security, and protect the marine environment, as confirmed and commended by the IMO in 2011. The mentioned governments, however, have always resorted to threats, intimidation and even destructive operations, whether in territorial and regional waters or high seas, in order to violate the rights of this country to its vessels and cargos, against international laws, and disrupt such peaceful maritime commerce, while threatening safety and security of the seafarers.

It is our firm belief that such illegal, immoral and non-technical actions led by two oppressive governments, against an event of festivity and commendation of seafarers and maritime community, arises from their outrageous failures and fiascos in exerting economic pressure and sanctions against Iran, focusing on the petroleum and maritime industries, which further proves their evil intentions and desperation in the face of the honorable Iranian nation on one side, and their manipulation and abuse of international specialized and technical organizations for their political agendas on the other.

We are certain that such actions as a clear sign of desperation and pettiness of a few treacherous and oppressive governments, will not weaken the resolve of the Iranian government and nation, and the port and maritime community thereof, to participate actively in IMO activities and progress toward sea-based economy.” 

According to the PMO News Portal, the statement is as follows:

All vessels belonging to the Iranian shipping companies currently operate under the glorious Iranian flag, and the Iranian fleet with a sizeable tonnage ranking among the first 20 largest ship-owning countries of the world, serve the maritime transport of the country to provide for the cargo import and export demands.

Iranian flagged vessels fully and favorably comply with international standards and conventions, as well as national legislations and regulations, which has been proven and confirmed by Port State Control (PSC) inspections reports issued by PSC MoUs around the world.

Moreover, Iranian seafarers possess the required competence and expertise, as endorsed by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Thanks to the effective measures taken in the past 30 years to promote the quality and quantity of maritime education in the country, it is our pleasure to announce that a high majority of officers serving on Iranian vessels are Iranian seafarers.

It must be emphasized that such actions are not only considered false and trivial, but also emanate from the political pressure exerted by the Government of the United States of America.

The Panamanian Government is also advised to be aware of the actions and behaviors, and the international and legal impacts of such groundless statements and claims, which will not affect the Iranian maritime trade, stand in clear contradiction to norms of international commercial freedom and the spirit of international maritime conventions that encourage nations and states to promote their cooperation on various levels, as well as Articles 1 and 2 of the IMO Convention ratified by both the Iranian and Panamanian Governments. By virtue of the mentioned articles, Member States to IMO as a subsidiary of the United Nations undertake to refrain from creating any limitations to commercial shipping or committing any discriminatory behavior.

According to the Public relation and International Management of the Ports and Maritime Organization, this message states:

I sincerely congratulate all the monotheists of the world and dear fellow Christians on the arrival of the birth of the prophet of peace and kindness, "Jesus, star of Bethlehem " and the beginning of the New Year.

The teachings of divine prophets, especially Jesus (pbuh) and the beloved Prophet of Islam, based on altruism, kindness and morality, are the basic needs of today's dangerous world, and the achievement of a safer world and kinder people can only be achieved by adhering to high values. Humanity and exemplary behavior cannot be obtained from the life of the prophets.

Iran, the eternal land of art and thought and the encyclopedia of culture, civilization, history, art and spirituality, has been a valuable heritage of peaceful coexistence of monotheistic religions throughout history.

I hope, in the light of the infinite favors of ALLAH, 2023 will be the beginning of a new chapter in the consolidation and deepening of peace and friendship and peaceful coexistence and avoiding any extremism in the world, and as in the past, effective steps in the development and expansion of economic and trade relations between international and witness bright days for the world.

Mr Hosein Abbasnejad Director General of Port and Maritime Organization of Hormozgan Province expressed its readiness to prepare facilities in the Bandar Abbas port for the Kazakhstan, which would facilitate the trade and transport of grain.

A Kazakh delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration Serik Zhumangarin visited the Bandar Abbas port and "expressed interest in creating their own transshipment facilities on the coast of the Persian Gulf," the Kazakh premier ministry’s office reported on November 3.

The Iranian side agreed to reserve land for the construction of an inland terminal in the port of Bandar Abbas. A working group will be created jointly with the administration of the port of Bandar Abbas and representatives of Kazakh businesses to study the possibilities of building silos to increase Kazakh grain transshipment volumes.

During the visit, the Kazakh deputy PM, Serik Zhumangarin signed an agreement with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mahdi Safari to increase grain exports. They also discussed the possibility of increasing the volume of trade between Kazakhstan and Iran to $3 billion and boosting bilateral agricultural trade to $1 billion.

"We are interested in increasing the volume of mutual trade in agro-industrial products with Iran up to $1 billion, as well as deliveries to the markets of Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia and East Africa, which are new to Kazakhstan," Zhumangarin said.

He said that “our proposal to Iran is not only about building a grain terminal, but also includes related structures and equipment, including wheat and flour warehouses, cold stores and equipment for storing meat,” and added that the private sector of Kazakhstan will pay for the implementation of this project, in case of reaching an agreement with Iran.

The Iranian and Kazakh officials also discussed the possibility of developing existing container routes in the direction of Iran and in transit through this country. Currently, there are three railroad routes, and favorable tariff conditions have been established for container shipments in the direction of Iran and further to third countries.

Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Rostam Qasemi said on October 31 that “Kazakhstan is going to cooperate with Iran in rail, road, sea and air transportation and cargo transfer through the North-South and East-West corridors".

Currently, between the two countries, there is a memorandum on the supply of grain crops from Kazakhstan to Iran in the amount of 1 million tons, as well as a memorandum on Kazakhstan-Iran cooperation in trade and transit of agricultural products for the supply of Kazakh grain and oil crops, vegetable oils, confectionery, meat products, and the supply of vegetables, fruits and dairy products from Iran.

In mid-June, the Kazakh and Iranian presidents attended a ceremony to launch a train service from Kazakhstan to Turkey via Iran. The Iran-Kazakhstan transit pact signed on May 23 requires cargo from China to Europe to switch to the Iranian route. Before this, Chinese cargo was transported to Europe via Russia by a land route north of the Caspian Sea.

”Our third quarter result was another record and the 16th quarter in a row with year-on-year earnings growth. Ocean freight rates, which have driven the exceptional results we have delivered in 2022, were again up both year-on-year and compared to the second quarter. However, it is clear that freight rates have peaked and started to normalize during the quarter, driven by both decreasing demand and easing of supply chain congestion,” said Søren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller - Maersk.

Elaborating on his comments, Skou told the Financial Times “every indicator we are looking at is flashing dark red.” He said that the shipping giant sees a recession looming that will confirm if the shipping industry has become more rational due to consolidation. He also points to Maersk’s decision to maintain its capacity in the 4.1 to 4.3 million TEU mark as opposed to competitors that placed large newbuild orders during the recent surge in shipping volumes.

Given the unfolding economic slowdown, Maersk told shareholders that it has lowered its outlook for 2022 growth in global consumer demand. The company is now forecasting an overall decline in demand of between -2 and -4 percent. It had previously said that it expected demand to range between 1 percent positive and 1 percent negative for 2022.

The slowing demand took a toll on loaded volumes during the most recent quarter, which were down 7.6 percent year-over-year. In particular, Maersk said it experienced declines in AsiaEurope and the Transpacific markets. Despite that, Maersk said its utilization of offered capacity remained strong at 90.4 percent in the quarter, while Skou noted that the company was prepared to reduce offered capacity to reflect future market trends. It has been widely anticipated that Maersk like other large carriers would begin to layup containerships to reduce the capacity in the market.

Adding further pressure, Maersk also reported a 16 percent increase in bunker costs as well as other cost increases. They cited higher time charter equivalent cost, transportation and storage costs for containers, and net slot charter cost in addition to the lower volumes.

Despite the looming issues, Maersk still reported a strong increase in profitability for its ocean shipping operations in the quarter. They said it was driven by higher freight rates on both contract and shipments. The average freight rate was up 42 percent year-over-year and even with weakening demand during the quarter they still achieved a 1.3 percent increase in average loaded freight rates versus the prior quarter. 

Maersk’s ocean shipping business saw revenues increase by more than a third in the quarter to $18 billion while the overall corporate revenues reached $22.8 billion with strong growth in logistics revenues due to acquisitions. Earnings reached $9.5 billion (EBIT) for the quarter.  Over the past 12 months, the shipping business has delivered an EBIT margin of nearly 47 percent versus a target under normalized conditions for a 6 percent margin.

Despite the expectations for further weakening in the fourth quarter, Maersk confirmed its earlier forecast for the year. The company continues to expect earnings of around $31 billion (EBIT) and that the businesses would generate about $24 billion in free cash flow for the year.

COSCO is already Tollerort's primary customer, "A rejection of the Chinese would be a disaster not only for the port but for Germany," Hafen Hamburg marketing head Axel Mattern told Reuters last month.

According to the PMO News Portal, that statement stipulated that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in line with her human and humanitarian duties, as implementation of her international obligations, and in full cooperation with the relevant ship owners, provided all necessary services to ships at the anchorage and their crew.

The Greek ship owners have also acted regarding the movement of the crew based on the procedure customary in the maritime transport industry, considering the maintenance and improvement of ship safety and for implementation of the provisions of the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC 2006), and PMO thus provided the necessary cooperation.

It must be noted that the crew of the ships had not been detained, and performed their activities and duties on their ships, according to the national regulations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and international maritime conventions.

Moreover, the judgment on the seized cargo of two tanker vessels MT Delta Poseidon and MT Prudent Warrior has been taken into consideration by the competent judicial authorities, and pursuant to the complaint by the cargo owner of the Iranian ship MT Lana, whose cargo was seized in Greece.

“Port transit has grown by 44 percent this year, and despite the restrictions caused by the sanctions, the development plans of this organization in various sectors and areas are being pursued seriously,” Ali-Akbar Safaei said at a meeting of the organization’s supreme council on Monday.

As reported by the TPO portal, the meeting was attended by senior officials including the representatives of Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Transport and Urban Development, Planning and Budget Organization (PBO), and the members of the PMO executive committee, as well as a group of managers with this organization.

Speaking at the meeting, Safaei stated that currently, more than 200 large and small commercial ports are providing services to regulate sea traffic and ship goods in the north and south of the country.

He pointed to the development of the marine fleet as one of the most serious demands of this organization from commercial shipping companies and announced the purchase of eight large commercial vessels to operate in the Caspian Sea and the order to build four ocean-going vessels in the south of the country.

Elsewhere in the gathering, Mehdi Nourani, head of the Center for Assembly Affairs and Contract Supervision at the Transport Ministry, pointed to the positive performance of the PMO in the current year, saying that there have been improvements in various sectors including port transit, loading and unloading of goods, growth of non-governmental investments and development of port infrastructure, especially in small ports.

Referring to the government’s new approach for the development of port and maritime cooperation with neighboring countries and the region, he emphasized: “By using the capacities of all entities and institutions active in the field of trade, it is possible to increase the contribution of the Ports and Maritime Organization in international trade.”