The chairman of the Shipping Association of Iran says that many foreign ports, especially those run by the private sector, have banned Iranian ships from entering and we are witnessing a 40 percent drop in our workforce.

In the Summer of 2018, the United States put the names of dozens of Iranian oil tankers, cargo ships, and passenger boats on the sanctions list.

Besides dozens of oil tankers, 122 ships that belong to the National Shipping Company are also on the United States’ new sanction list.

While mentioning that 95 percent of Iran’s trade is by water, the chairman of the Shipping Association of Iran continued: “The sanctions’ first area of impact was the sea, and all the companies that were in some way connected to the United States left Iran.” He said that over 20 companies have left Iran since the sanctions were imposed again.

He stated that many ports have banned Iranian ships from entering, and without mentioning any specific country, he added: “Some of these ports are in countries that are our friends and brothers.”

Regarding the shipping insurance, Masoud Palmeh said that shipping insurance companies in the world have also reduced their services to Iran since the sanctions, and they only cover ships until they enter Iranian waters, and after they enter Iran’s waters they are not covered anymore.

According to Palmeh, almost 40 percent of the workforce in this sector have been laid off, and due to the lack of import and export in commercial ports, the three-shift working system has been reduced to one shift.

The Ship Owners Union recently issued a statement heavily criticizing the government for its lack of support during sanctions.

The statement claims that based on the decisions of the authorities in charge, it seems that they are unaware of the situation. The statement also mentions the quadrupled cost of fuel due to the drop of Rial’s value.