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Iraq has floated the seventh concrete unit of the immersed tunnel at Grand Al-Faw Port as it is pushing ahead with the construction of one of the longest subsea tunnels in the world, the General Company for Ports announced on Friday.
The tunnel, which will run 2.4 kilometres, including 1.2 km underwater, is the first of its kind in the Middle East to employ immersed segment technology.
The 10 massive concrete segments are fabricated in specialised dry docks, according to the port’s website.
In an official statement on the website, Director General Farhan Al-Fartousi said, “The seventh concrete segment has now been floated in the manufacturing basin, while the sixth is being precisely positioned on the bed of the Khor Al-Zubair channel.”
Each segment is around 126 metres long. The tunnel will link Grand Al-Faw Port to Umm Qasr, creating a direct transportation corridor across the sea.
Al-Fartousi told Iraq’s Shafaq News that the latest operations mark a critical stage, with flotation and lowering conducted simultaneously to save time.
Once outfitted with advanced systems including GPS positioning units and survey towers, the seventh section will extend the completed length to more than 1,071 metres.
Construction has accelerated throughout 2025, with four other sections submerged since May, including the fifth through the channel’s deepest point in August.
The tunnel is a centerpiece of the Grand Al-Faw Port project, which also includes container berths, highways, and logistics hubs.
(Writing by N. Saeed; Editing by Sona Nambiar)
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