SPOTLIGHT: MIDDLE EAST
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GOING FOR GROW TH With investment increasing rapidly in the region, Middle East ports are experiencing an uplift in their fortunes
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iddle East ports have been in competition in recent years to develop their positions as regional hubs for the shipping industry and the Iraqi Al Faw port project looks like being a contender when completed. The project, which was originally mooted over a decade ago, has now completed its first stage with the construction of five main piers. Daewoo Engineering & Construction won a $2.7bn contract at the end of 2020 for the port’s construction, which will include a tunnel linking the new port to Umm Qasr, the construction of which is expected to take about four years. Roads linking the port with Basra are also part of the plan, which includes nearly 100 new berths, giving the port a greater number of ports than those available at Jebel Ali, currently the largest port in the Middle East. The port will be located along the Kawr Abdallah Channel, near the mouth of the Shatt Al Arab waterway that runs between Iraq and Iran. By 2028, the port is expected to shift about 36m tonnes of containerised freight – around 4m 20ft-equivalent containers – and about 22m tonnes of dry bulk. By 2038, this will reach 7.5m containers and 33m tonnes of dry bulk,
BULK TERMINALS
international | AUTUMN 2021
