CATIC provides $67.77 million supplier credit to IRISL to acquire four 74,000-ton bulk carriers

On June 22, 2003, China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) issued a $67.77 million supplier’s credit (loan) to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) — an Iranian state-owned enterprise — to acquire four 74,000-ton bulk carriers from Jiangnan Shipyard in China. The agreement was signed by Liu Jun, general manager of AVIC Beijing, Hu Keyi, chief engineer of Jiangnan Shipyard, and AFKHAMI, president of IRISL. It appears that CATIC, in turn, secured an export seller’s credit from a Chinese state-owned bank in order to finance the supplier credit. The proceeds from the supplier credit were to be used by the borrower to finance 80% of the cost of a $84.72 million commercial contract with CATIC. The first carrier was scheduled for delivery in January 2006 with a new carrier being delivered every 3 months thereafter until IRISL received all four carriers. There is evidence that at least several of the carriers were successfully delivered to IRISL. However, precise delivery dates are unavailable.

Additional details

1. The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line Group (IRISL or گروه کشتیرانی جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎), also known by the business name IRISL Group, is a shipping line based in Iran. Its fleet comprises 115 ocean-going vessels with a total capacity of 3.3 million tons deadweight (DWT), with 87 ocean-going vessels owned by IRISL while the remaining 28 ships owned under the flag of subsidiaries such as Khazar Shipping, Valfajr as well as Iran-India Shipping Companies. They are manned by 6,000 personnel who work under the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Caspian Sea, Persian Gulf, international waters and various ports of the world. 2. IRISL has been sanctioned by the United States, United Nations, European Union, and other parties for its role in assisting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile development programs. However, the return of the line to the world market was expected by early winter 2016, as a result of the Iran nuclear deal between Iran, the P5+1/EU3+3 powers, and the EU in August 2015. Since the USA pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, the IRISL was added back to the U.S Treasury’s sanctions list on June 8, 2020. 3. Jiangnan Shipyard (Chinese: 江南造船厂) is a historic shipyard in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state-owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated as Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd.

Number of official sources

4

Number of total sources

8