Third Caspian Sea safety conference ends in Tehran
Representatives from Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan attended the two-day conference, Trend's correspondent reported from the event.
Maritime safety, promoting interaction mechanisms on inspection and rescue affairs and taking advantage of legal capacities were among the topics discussed at the event, Trend reports.
At the conference, the sides agreed on a draft document submitted by Tehran as a basis to discuss and prepare regulations for maritime safety in the Caspian Sea.
The parties also agreed to establish specialized expert working groups in their countries to study the issues and share the results with other littoral countries in the next edition of the conference.
It was also agreed that two working groups be formed to simultaneously work on controlling and inspecting ships and studying the international standards and conventions.
The sides expressed hope that a memorandum of understanding would be signed soon on safety regulations for vessels in the Caspian Sea.
The fourth round of the conference is scheduled to be held in early August in Tehran.
Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan participated in the second round of the conference in 2017 in Turkmenistan.
The largest inland body of water, the Caspian Sea is shared between five countries: Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Russia and Iran. The ancient inhabitants of its coast believed the Caspian Sea was an ocean, presumably due to its saltwater and vastness.
Apart from its rich resources of oil and gas and significant diversity of aquatic animals, it provides Iran with a perfect opportunity to increase its revenue through expanding maritime tourism industry on its coasts - a prospect that has not been fully explored so far.