The latest satellite imagery acquired by DigitalGlobe shows an empty dry dock at Iran’s Sadra Island shipyard located in Bushehr. In 2006, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) was in the market to buy 42 tankers to replace its fleet by the end of 2012. PDVSA’s objective was to transport 40% of the company’s production with its own fleet and ultimately […]
The latest imagery from 24OCT13 acquired by DigitalGlobe shows Iran’s first Aframax tanker still berthed at the Bushehr-based shipyard dry dock. In July 2013, Sadra had announced—and the Iranian press had stated—that Iran was ready to ship the first tanker to Venezuela. The vessel viewed above, the Sorocaima, is one of four aframax tankers Iran is […]
A quick overview of the first tanker from a prior post in January: According to Iranian press reporting, the Sorocaima is one of four aframax tankers Iran is constructing for Venezuela in a contract dating back to 2007. The first ship’s production was delayed due to a revision in the contract which saw plans for […]
**This piece was originally written in January 2012 but is reproduced here for reference information. While news of Iran’s Veyelat-91 naval war games dominated the press throughout December and early January, very little attention has been paid to Iran’s shipbuilding capacity. On 24 December 2012, Deputy Managing Director, Salman Zarbi of the Iran Marine […]
