'The age of bulk carriers is most
important, especially regarding Letter of Credit (LC) demands' - Hamidipanah.
TWENTY SIX Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines' (IRISL) ocean-going bulk vessels have been awarded ISM and ISO9002 certificates by Lloyds Register of UK.
This comes well in advance of the 1 July SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) deadline for all bulk vessels, tankers and passenger ships to comply with the new ISM code. According to the South African representative for IRISL, Majid Hamidipanah, a further 13 bulk carriers owned by the company were due for certification before the deadline.
Due to these new regulations IRISL has embarked on a programme of replacing all ageing vessels within the fleet, he told FTW. Management has announced that any vessels in our fleet with more than 20 years of service must be either upgraded or replaced. He said that exporters and importers were becoming far more alert to the age of vessels being employed to carry their cargoes.
IRISL's head office was also awarded the same certificates.
IRISL currently operates a total fleet of 78 vessels of all types. 40 of these will fall under the replacement/refurbishment programme out of which four have already been delivered. Contracts for 27 new vessels have been signed with various shipbuilders and the balance will undergo upgrading.
More than 16 million tons of imports and exports were carried by IRISL to and from Iran during 1997, with the carrier also handling a further 3 mt in cross-trading between non-Iranian ports. South Africa has become an increasingly important stopover or destination for the line's vessels, he said.
