National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) has appointed Hossein Shiva as its new managing director with immediate effect.
The university lecturer replaces Nasrollah Sardashti, who has led the company since March 2018.
Shiva was previously a member of the NITC board of directors and the company's deputy managing director, The Tehran Times reported.
He has also served as the advisor to the president on petroleum affairs, the secretary of the economic committee of the supreme National Security Council, an advisor to the oil ministry and member of the board of the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Co, according to the Iranian oil ministry's news agency Shana.
The new boss of NITC holds a PhD in systems management from Imam Hossein University and a master's degree in Marine Engineering from Shahid Chamran University in Ahvaz. He is also a lecturer in economics at Kharazmi University.
While NITC's public relations department confirmed Shiva's appointment to Iranian media, no reason was given for Sardashti's departure.
NITC is one of the world's largest tanker operators with a fleet 62 crude and products tankers, according to figures from Clarksons.
The fleet includes 38 VLCCs, however most of these are either in lay-up or deployed in storage roles.
Iran was the fifth-largest crude oil producer in OPEC in 2020 and the third-largest natural gas producer in the world in 2019, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
At the end of 2020, Iran accounted for 25% of oil reserves in the Middle East and 12% in the world, but Iran's crude oil production has fallen since 2017 because the oil sector has been subject to underinvestment and US-led sanctions.
