Top Chinese shipping companies sever ties with Iran
The country is becoming increasingly more dependent on overland routes for the procurement of food.
Traditionally much of the food imported into the country come via sea.
“The vast majority of major container carriers have now ceased calling at Iran,” said Daniel Richards, shipping analyst with Business Monitor International. “As even feeder services begin to shy away from calling there, the country will struggle to continue importing.”
The US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which came into effect on July 1, blacklists Iran’s shipping, shipbuilding, energy and port management sectors.
China is among Tehran’s main allies, but its shipping firms are also bailing out. China Shipping Container Lines Co (CSCL), among the world’s top 10 lines, has become the latest group to exit Iran, a CSCL official confirmed.
China’s COSCO Container Lines, the world’s number 5 player, was another firm to end ties.
Taiwanese lines Evergreen and Yang Ming Marine said they had pulled out, while Singapore’s Pacific International Lines has also cut ties along with two top South Korean shipping firms.
AP Moller-Maersk’s Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container company, pulled out of Iran last year, joining others including the world’s number two and three MSC and CMACGM and smaller groups like Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd.
IRISL, Iran’s biggest cargo carrier, has tried to dodge sanctions by changing its flags and setting up front companies, the US Treasury and the European Union have said.
Source: alarabiya.net
