The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line Group (IRISL) has reported a record high in its freight services between Russia and India through a newly launched corridor.
An IRISL statement released on Tuesday said that the company had shipped 27,500 twenty-foot long containers (TEUs), or the equivalent of 337,000 metric tons of cargo, between Russia and India in the four months to late July.
The statement said the figure was an all-time record for the IRISL on the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a major trade route which is becoming increasingly popular due to its low costs and other logistics features.
IRISL’s previous statements suggested it had accommodated cargo transit between Russia’s Saint Petersburg and India’s Nhava Sheva port through the Caspian Sea and within the Iranian domestic borders on a door-to-door basis.
The company has activated or launched regional offices in Russia and India to handle major cargo transit operations through the INSTC.
Iran hopes it can benefit from a growth in trade through the INSTC, mainly between Russia and India, now that Western sanctions on Moscow have caused a shift in Russia’s trade priorities.
Iranian authorities say transit via the INSTC will reach record levels once Iran finishes building two missing rail links along the route.
The IRISL said in its Tuesday statement that cargo shipping through the INSTC had expanded in recent months to cover 14 different destinations in the region and around the world, including ports in the United Arab Emirates.
The company said it had ordered four new container ships to service the rising volumes of cargo being transported on the Caspian Sea route.