The Iranian Hafiz Darya Shipping Company (HDS Lines) has been listed as the world’s 23rd largest shipping company in the latest report published by a leading Europe-based research organization this month.
HDS Lines has 22 container ships and can carry 88,608 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers per year, Eghtesadnews reported. The Danish shipping giant Maersk tops the list with 609 container ships which enables the company to carry 2,964,408 TEU containers. The Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) stood second with 495 container ships, followed by the French CMA CGM shipping company with 454 container ships.
The Taiwanese Shipping company, Wan Hai Lines ranks 20th in the list. The company was the first shipping company to berth at the Iranian southern port of Shahid Rajaii after the sanctions imposed on Iran – by UN Security Council over its nuclear program — were partially lifted.
Cargo ships’ transportation to and from Iran’s southern ports were reinvigorated following a limited sanction relief on shipping industry following an interim deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) in November 2013.
Established in 2009, the HDS Lines has taken control of several ships previously directly owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and handles IRISL’s former bulk and general cargo operations. Transfer of some of IRISL shipping operations to HDS Lines is believed to be a part of the long-term privatization process by Iran’s government.
