TEHRAN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's tanker shipping company plans to expand cooperation with Norwegian suppliers of parts for oil tankers, Financial Tribune daily reported on Sunday.

"The National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) has been in touch with Norwegian ship parts and equipment manufacturers in the last 20 years and we hope to keep up this collaboration," head of NITC Sirous Kianersi was quoted as saying.

The cooperation is in line with the measures to comply with global environmental standards, Kianersi said at the Iran-Norway Bilateral Maritime Opportunities conference.

Kianersi also said his company has joined hands with the research and development arm of the Iranian Petroleum Ministry, known as RIPI, to cut down on sulfur emissions of its tankers.

"To meet international obligations, we have signed a deal with RIPI to reduce sulfur emissions of our crude oil vessels," he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, the NITC plans to modernize its fleet of around 70 tankers, one of the largest in the world, under a five-year program, and Norwegian companies are "on the NITC's list" to help the company upgrade its large fleet.

The Iranian company also plans to reduce the average age of its tanker fleet from 10 years old, Kianersi said, adding that the renovation program will not affect NITC's capacity of 15 million deadweight tonnage. Enditem

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