A new bunkering alliance between Italy’s Fratelli Cosulich and the Iranian national shipping group IRISL will take shape in the near future.
Augusto Cosulich, head of the Genoa-based group, told Splash: “Fratelli Cosulich is developing new projects in maritime insurance brokerage and in bunkering. We are going to set up a new joint venture with the national shipping group IRISL aimed at offering ship bunkering services in the port of Bandar Abbas. That’s something we have been doing for a long time now in the port of Singapore.”
Fratelli Cosulich has a worldwide network of experienced bunker brokers and traders based in Genoa, New York, Hong Kong, Tianjin and Singapore. In Singapore, the group operates as a physical supplier through a fleet of three small bunker tankers.
Fratelli Cosulich also acts as general agent in Italy for IRISL and so the two companies have a long standing business relationship dated back to the 70s.
Cosulich told Splash that “there are huge potential opportunities in terms of trades to and from Iran for the future, but Italian exporters today are dealing with the problem that banks don’t seem to want to work with Iran. Unfortunately, without letter of credits from the bank all the cargoes ready for the shipments have to be stocked in warehouse waiting for those letters.”
According to the Italian, with the necessary support from the financial industry, cargo flows from Italy to Iran would increase at least five times compared to what is being transported today.
