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The port is a central component of Iraq’s Development Road project Iraq’s Al-Faw Grand Port mega project in Basra will see its first phase completed by late 2025, according to a report by the Iraqi News Agency (INA). Transport Minister Razak Muhibis Al-Saadawi reaffirmed the project’s priority under Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s economic diversification strategy at the Bahr Al-Uloom Dialogue Forum, the report said. Al-Saadawi highlighted Al-Faw Port’s strategic location, spanning 54 square kilometres (sq. km.), with direct access to open waters. He said the various elements of the first phase have reached completion rates of 85-90 percent. These include: • Five berths have been completed. • A 62-kilometre (km) road connecting Umm Qasr to Al-Faw Port. • A 2.4-km immersed tunnel, the first of its kind in the Middle East, with 1.25-km underwater at a depth of 30 metres in final stages of completion. • A navigation channel, currently in its final construction phase. • A container handling yard, with over 80 percent of land reclamation completed. The Minister also confirmed that the first of the 10 precast tunnel elements of the immersed tunnel has been submerged. Dutch company Ballast Nedam is executing the immersion tunnel project as a subcontractor for Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Each tunnel element weighs 46,000 tonnes and extends for 125 metres, according Ballast Nedams website. Iraq’s Development Road project, a multimodal trade and infrastructure initiative, includes: 1. Al-Faw Grand Port. 2. A 1,200-km dual-track railway linking Al-Faw to Fishkhabour border with Turkey. 3. A parallel highway connecting Al-Faw to Turkey and Europe. 4. An industrial and economic zone to support logistics and manufacturing activities. The Development Road is expected to position Iraq as a key trade hub connecting Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and provide an alternative to the Suez Canal. |
