Shahid Beheshti Port - Chabahar is located in Sistan and Baluchistan Province of Iran. The port is located close to main line shipping routes to Africa, Asia and Europe and can serve as a gateway to the Eastern transit corridor to Afghanistan as well as the land locked countries of Central Asian States. Further, Shahid Beheshti Port - Chabahar is located at the cross roads of North South and West East international corridors and can act as the major intersection point of global trade.
Bandar Abbas port handles around 85% of Iran's seaborne trade and is highly congested. Whereas, Unlike Bandar Abbas, Chabahar has the ability to handle cargo ships bigger than 100,000 tons.
Chabahar is Irans only oceanic port. It is situated in Sistan and Baluchistan Province in south Iran on the Mokaran coast. The Chabahar Port is of great strategic importance as it is located outside the Strait of Hormuz. The port is only 550 NM from Deen Dayal Port Trust and 786 NM from Mumbai.
Chabahar has two ports; Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti. The former is an old port with limited water front and a draft of 7-8 meters, to accommodate feeder vessels.
The Shahid Beheshti Port is being developed in four phases. Presently Port has a capacity of 2.5 million tons per year. On completion of Phase I the capacity will increase to 8 MTPA. On completion of all 4 phases, port capacity will 82 million tons per year with 32 jetties: 16 multipurpose, 10 containers, 3 each oil and dry bulk. The first phase operations were inaugurated in December 2017.
By getting involved in development of first phase of Shahid Beheshti, India has taken a lead role in regional cooperation. India believes that this deep drafted port (16 meters draft) can become one of the largest trade hub in the future. The port would connect the west coast of India to not only landlocked Afghanistan but also Central Asian countries.
Chabahar Port is envisaged to also serve the purpose of providing more direct sea route for Indian goods to Central Asia. Chabahar Port being located in the Arabian Sea is insulated from repercussions of any developments in Strait of Hormuz.