TRACTION FOR IRAQ’S AL-FAW PORT?

This facility is located on the Kawr Abdullah Channel in the Faw peninsula, to the south of the existing Basra Port and has been under consideration for some time. Indeed, it was first announced back in 2010 but political and social instability in the country and concerns over oil pricing have continued to delay positive progress.

However, in 2019 the dredging and breakwater was completed and at the end of 2020, Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Daewoo E&C) was awarded a port construction contract, reportedly worth US$2.7 billion.

Now, Daewoo E&C has joined with Busan Port Authority and SM Line Gyeong-in Terminal to form a South Korean consortium targeting the operating concessions of the container terminal that is part of the first phase of the port project.

Current plans indicate development of a Phase 1 consisting of five container shipping berths that can each accommodate ships of up to 23,000TEU.

The long-term objective, if brought to fruition, is for 100 berths offering 7.5 million TEU of annual capacity by 2038. This is on the assumption that the first phase is completed in 2028, with capacity of four million TEU per annum.

The rationale for Al-Faw Port is to act as a gateway for goods moving from the Mid-East Gulf, South and East Asia and Europe. A new highway, connected to Umm Qasr via the Silk Tunnel, is also targeting access to/from Turkey, assuming, of course, the project suffers no further delays or changes to infrastructure plans.