National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) is limbering up for greater participation in the international tanker markets. For the past few years sanctions kept it confined to its home trades, with its vessels mostly used to ship Iranian oil to India and the Far East, as well as to store unsold Iranian crude.
The company, whose 62-strong tanker fleet comprises 42 VLCCs, nine suezmax tankers and a number of aframax, products and chemical tankers and LPG carriers, has had to operate in a difficult environment, as sanctions made everything from obtaining spare parts to registering and insuring its ships very difficult.
