Iraqi is building the Middle East’s largest submerged tunnel linking Faw Port with the port of nearby Umm Qasr city, the official Alsabah newspaper reported on Monday.

The project also includes the construction of a motorway linking the tunnel with a planned speedway that will traverse most of Iraq towards the Northern border with Turkey, the paper said.

Farhan Al-Fartousi, Director of the General Company for Ports in Iraq, an affiliate of the Transport Ministry, told the paper that both projects are progressing and would be completed before the launching of the rail and road link with Turkey.

“Work is progressing as scheduled in the submerged tunnel and the road linking it with Umm Qasr Port,” Fartousi said.

“This road will be part of the planned motorway that will be constructed as part of the Development Road project which also comprises a rail line from Faw to Turkey.”

Faw Port, currently under construction in South Iraq, will be one of the world’s largest container terminals, with a planned capacity of 99 million tonnes per year. The Development Road linking the Port with Turkey is expected to cost around $17 billion.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)