Iran owns the world’s largest fleet of oil supertankers ready to navigate international waters in pursuit of new trade

Iran owns the world’s largest fleet of oil supertankers ready to navigate international waters in pursuit of new trade, officials have said.

According to the head of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), Iran has 42 very large crude carriers or VLCCs, each able to carry 2 million barrels of oil.

“No other company in the world owns that number of VLCCs,” NITC’s commercial director Nasrollah Sardashti has said.

One London-based analyst who tracks oil-tanker fleets told the Wall Street Journal that he also believed NITC has the largest fleet.

With sanctions in place, NITC didn’t scale back activities. Instead it put orders for the construction of 20 VLCCs by Chinese companies which have delivered them over the past two and half years.

According to the Journal, the biggest Iranian shipping company’s main rivals such as Mitsui O.S.K Lines and Nippon Yusen Kaisha of Japan and Belgium’s Euronav NV all have confirmed owning fewer tankers.

NITC’s Managing Director Akbar Safa'ei has said the company was in talks with European insurance companies to resume coverage for the Iranian oil.