Rehabilitation works on Umm Qasr reach 12 meters deep

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: the company rehabilitating the depths of Umm Qasr port in Basra province reached 12 meters deep, which should spare Iraq seeking the help of neighboring countries’ ports, according to the Iraqi minister of transport on Friday. “The Belgian company’s excavation works reached the depths of 12 meters on Friday, compared to 7.5 meters in 2005 and 8.5 meters in 2008,” Amer Abduljabbar told IraqiNews.com news agency. The transport ministry had signed a contract worth 52 million euros with a Belgian company to rehabilitate Umm Qasr port to reach the depths of 12.5 meters. “The designed depths of 12.5 meters will be announced by late this month, which is a great achievement made for the first time since the first Gulf war in 1980,” said Abduljabbar. Umm Qasr port was built in early 1970s. Other ports in Basra included Khour al-Zubeir that was build in 1974 and Abu Fallous. All of them are located on the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The Shiite province of Basra, 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has five commercial ports and two oil ports: al-Maaqal, established in 1916 by the British forces and handed over to Iraqi authorities in 1937; and Faw, a small port on the al-Faw Peninsula near the Shatt al-Arab waterway and the Persian Gulf. Basra is the cradle of the first civilization of Sumer. The city played an important role in early Islamic history. The area surrounding Basra has substantial petroleum resources and many oil wells. The city’s oil refinery has a production capacity of about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd). Basra is in a fertile agricultural region, with major products including rice, maize corn, barley, pearl millet, wheat and dates as well as livestock. A network of canals flowed through the city, giving it the nickname “The Venice of the Middle East,” at least at high tide. AmR (S) 3