DP World launches direct shipping service between UAE and Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Dubai Ports World (DP World) launched on Monday the first direct freight service between the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, to facilitate the flow of goods between the two countries.

This service includes ‘unaccompanied freight,’ where trailers are transported via freight ferries without the driver and cab traveling alongside them. Instead, the trailer is left at the quayside at the port by the driver and is then pulled onto and off the ship.

This service is the first of its kind in the UAE and is provided by P&O Navigation, a subsidiary of the DB World group.

This service takes about 36 hours to transport trailers between the port of Jebel Ali in the UAE and the port of Umm Qasr in southern Iraq.

Unaccompanied trailers are loaded onto cargo vessels, without the driver and the tractor unit at the port.

Once the trailer is transported to the port of Umm Qasr, an Iraqi tractor unit can tow it to its final destination anywhere in Iraq. Upon arrival, the empty trailer is returned to Umm Qasr Port and shipped to Jebel Ali.

Goods shipped by road from the UAE to Iraq have to be transferred from the original truck to a locally licensed vehicle, which is a time-consuming process that can damage and contaminate goods, threatening safety.