Iraq’s long delayed Faw port nears completion

• Port to be finished this year
• Phase 1 will consist of five piers
• Plan for 99m tonnes a year

Iraq’s long-delayed redevelopment and construction of its Faw port near the Arabian Gulf will be completed this year, the Iraq state news agency reported, paving the way for improved access for goods to Iraq and beyond.

South Korea’s Daewoo won a $2.6 billion contract to build five main piers at the port in 2010 and broke ground that same year, but the project has been held up due to budgetary constraints and political infighting.

Apart from a few kilometres of shore at the top of the Arabian Gulf, Iraq is otherwise landlocked. Its limited coastline is very shallow since it forms the estuary of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Faw itself is in the Shatt Al Arab waterway – the confluence of the two rivers – which is divided down the middle with neighbouring Iran.

The five piers are part of a wider, phase one development of the port costing a total of $5 billion.

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The port will eventually be able to handle 99 million tonnes of cargo per year, making it one of the world’s 20 largest container terminals, the Iraqi news agency reported, citing transport ministry spokesman Maytham Safi. 

“Phase 1 of the Grand Faw Port will be completed at the end of this year,” Safi is quoted as saying.

The plan – which Iraq dubs The Road of Development – is to link the port to Turkey via a $17 billion railway line and an associated motorway.

“Faw will be one of the largest container terminals in the world. It will lead to redrawing the global maritime transport map in this area as it will facilitate freight between China, Japan and Southeast Europe through Iraq,” Safi said.

Iraq has invited Turkey, Qatar and the UAE to participate and invest in the project.