International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) is to operate, develop and expand container facilities Iraq’s Umm Qasr port and will invest up to $380m in the project, reports say.
The Philippines-based terminal operator, which has a network of facilities worldwide, signed a contract with General Company for Ports of Iraq to develop the port in three stages, Reuters reports.
ICTSI will also reportedly build a new container and general cargo terminal in the port for a 26-year concession period.
“The estimated cost of the project is $140m to $150m for each stage. Each stage involves construction of a quay and a 200,000-square-metre yard opposite to store containers and machinery, which are used to load and unload vessels,” Sharif al-Battat, commission manager at ICTSI, told the newswire.
“Within the first phase of the project, a 200-meter long quay has been completed and God willing, it will be operational on August 1 with the arrival of the first vessel and the second will be completed within the coming two years.”
As well as the three new quays that will be built, the development reportedly includes the construction of container storage yards and the installation of six gantry cranes, two for each phase.
“The estimated cost of the construction of three quays is $380m and I think that with this huge investment we can upgrade the capacity of the port to the targeted shipments planned by the Iraqi ports. For example, the yards can contain up to a million containers in the first phase. The project falls into three phases and this means that by the end of the third and final phase the capacity will be three million containers,” Anmar al-Safi, head of media relations at Iraqi Ports Company, told Reuters.
