North- South transport corridor(INSTC) as a suitable option for business relation between Asia and Europe
Following to the modification in the Asia- Europe corridor transportation ministers of European countries introduced another corridor for business relation between Asia and Europe continents that connects transit links of North Europe countries, Scandinavia and Russia through Iran with Indian ocean countries, Persian Gulf and south east of Asian countries.
New corridors is called North- South corridor that connects business relation and transit activities of north Europe, Scandinavia and Russia to other European countries through Iran an Iranian ports in Persian Gulf to Indian ocean countries &south-east Asian countries. Large part of Asian & European countries can transport their cargo through North-South transport corridor. Before establishing of North- South corridor , merchant and cargo shipper used sea and free waters to transport their cargo to central and northern Europe and Russia. In this way cargoes transport from Indian Ocean, Oman Sea , Aden Gulf, Red sea and SUEZ Canal to Mediterranean Sea . The goods whose their destination are Russian or Ukraine, transport to odyssey port through Black Sea and the goods whose their destination are north Europe and north Russia are transported through Gibraltar straight, Atlantic ocean , Manche Sea and Baltic Sea. This way of transport between Indian Ocean region and north Europe is very time consuming and costly so that using of North-South transport corridor can resulted is significant time and freight saving between these countries.
Important features of north-south transport corridor
An important feature of North- South corridor is time and freight saving. Asian & European countries can transport their cargoes at twice speed in North- South transport corridor compared to Suez Canal. This corridor is more important for Asian and Europe continents because of creation of new countries in C.I.S and new global markets in Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. At present most important and suitable part of North-South transport corridor passes through Iran. This corridor begins from Mombay port in Indian Ocean and connects to Bandar Abbas in South of Iran and dispatched to northern ports of Iran through road and rail network and then will be transported to Astrakhan or Lagan ports of Russian country. After completion of Astara-Qazvin rail-way building , rail and road access to Caucasus & Russian countries.
Freight rate of transit goods between Indian ocean and north Europe countries is cheaper than about 30% compared to traditional routes. South east Asian countries,C.I.S , the Middle East, Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf and north European countries can join this multimodal transport corridor and enjoy the benefits of fast and cheap goods transport. One of important benefits of this corridor is numerous inter-sections with different corridors between C.I.S And Europe including TRACRCA and ALTID.
