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Iraq is planning to invite bids from global shipyards to build eight giant ships to serve its Faw port which is under construction in the southern tip of the Arab country.
The OPEC founding member has also received bids from a number of regional and global companies for the operation of Faw, slated to be one of the world’s largest 20 container terminals.
“We have plans to build eight giant vessels to be deployed to serve Faw port and support Iraq’s existing fleet of six large ships,” Maytham Safi, information director at Iraq’s transport ministry, told the official daily Al Sabah.
Safi did not name bidders for Faw operation but officials said in April that they were in talks with the US-based KBR company to help identify operator for the port.
They said the talks with KBR covered a mechanism to begin the operation of the Faw Port after its infrastructure was completed.
The officials said Phase 1 of Faw Port in South Iraq would be commissioned in late 2025 or early 2026 while Phase 2 would be completed in 2029.
(Writing by N Saeed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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