Iran’s Shahid Rajaee Port on the Persian Gulf coast has been expanded to include 31 hectares of new container terminal yard.
The expansion scheme was part of six new development projects opened at Rajaee Port earlier on Thursday by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Rouhani used a video call from his office in Tehran to inaugurate the projects which have cost the government some 31.97 trillion rials (over $133 million), according to a report by the official IRNA agency.
The projects included the rollout of two modern massive dredgers, a new container wharf and three new crude berths, said the report.
The projects had kicked off in 2017 when Rouhani vowed during a visit to the Shahid Rajaee Port Complex that his government would modernize the facility to improve its competitiveness with large ports in the Persian Gulf and around the world.
Head of Iran’s ports authority (PMO) Mohammad Rastad said on Thursday that the new wharf opened at Rajaee port would be able to accommodate large ships with capacities of up to 18,400 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
Rastad said the port is now capable of simultaneously processing three 400-meter ocean-liners with a draft of 17.5 meters.
Including its older facilities at the nearby port of Bandar Abbas, the Shahid Rajaee Port Complex is considered Iran’s largest trade gateway.
Government figures show that the port is currently responsible for 60% of Iran’s imports and exports.
Iran has continued to invest in ports in its south and north despite restrictions imposed by the United States on the country’s trade activities since 2018.
The government has introduced major development projects in Iran’s single ocean port of Chabahar, located on the Sea of Oman in southeast coasts of the country.