Contship Italia and Germany’s Eurogate have signed an MoU with Iran’s biggest port company Sina Port and Marine to resume trade after lifting of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran says 11 leading global shipping companies have established offices in one of its key southern ports - Shahid Rajaee Port.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and the country’s leading ports operator, the Tidewater Middle East Maritime Company, have been removed from the US list of companies designated for sanctions and assets freeze.

International shipping lines are stepping up port calls to Iran as the country’s massive maritime trade sector is emerging from sanctions.

Iran is hoping to ramp up its sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) after doubling the country’s fleet of carriers for shipment of the fuel to the international market, an energy official has said.

Iran is building a multi-purpose port near the Strait of Hormuz with 700 million euros of foreign investment, the state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

Malta Freeport has renewed its contracts with Iran’s Hafiz Darya Shipping Lines (HDS) amid rising anticipation that sanctions will be removed on Tehran later this year, the national paper Times of Malta has reported.

Maltese authorities are contacting Iran for possible renewal of shipping trade ruptured by US-led sanctions, the country’s national newspaper reported on Thursday.