Iraqi ports achieve over 65 billion dinars in one month
An aerial view of the breakwater and the progress of the construction work in the Al-Faw Grand Port in Basra, Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) announced on Sunday that its revenues during February surpassed 65 billion dinars.
The Director of the GCPI, Farhan Al-Fartousi, said that high rates of container and cargo handling, both imported and exported, were seen in Iraqi ports, Shafaq News reported.
Al-Fartousi explained that 73 import ships and 120 export ships arrived at Iraqi ports during February.
The Iraqi Ministry of Transport said last year that plans have been proposed to develop ports in Iraq, the most important of which is the Al-Faw Grand Port, which is being developed by a Korean company.
The Al-Faw Grand Port in southern Iraq is being developed by Daewoo E&C, and the container terminal is part of its first phase that goes into operation, according to Maritime Gateway News.
The first phase will have five container shipping berths that can each accommodate ships of up to 23 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).
When fully completed in 2038, the Al-Faw Grand Port, with 100 berths that can handle 7.5 million TEU annually, would overtake Dubai’s 67-berth Jebel Ali as the largest container port in the Middle East, Maritime Gateway News reported.
The first phase of the port, expected to be completed in 2028, is estimated to have an annual container handling capacity of four million TEU.
The $7 billion logistics project will rival the Suez Canal in Egypt as it will be linked through an overland route to Turkey by rail and would make the port city of Basra a gateway to Europe.