, FRANK26: "TRUMP, PANAMA CANAL - SUDANI, AL FAW GRAND PORT.". 21 MARCH

Baghdad –

The Iraqi Minister of Transport, Razzaq Al-Saadawi, revealed that the first phase of the Al-Faw Grand Port will be completed by the end of 2025.
Expected to be the biggest seaport in the Middle East, Iraq’s Al-Faw Grand Port stands out due to its open-sea setting, which spans 54 square kilometers, according to Al-Saadawi.

The first phase of the project consists of five piers, which have been completely finished; a 62-kilometer road that connects the Al-Faw Grand Port to Umm Qasr port city; a 2,400-meter-long submerged tunnel; a ship canal; and a container yard, the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

As part of a field tour conducted last November to review the progress made in major projects of the southern Iraqi port, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, inaugurated the port’s first five container berths.

Al-Sudani reviewed the port’s major projects, including the container yard and the underwater tunnel, which is one of the important parts of Iraq’s Development Road.

The underwater tunnel being built under the Khor Al-Zubair Channel forms part of the new highway being built to link the Al-Faw Grand Port to Umm Qasr Port and the existing transport network, including Iraq’s Development Road.

The Al-Faw Grand Port is located on the Khor Abdallah Channel, near the mouth of Shatt Al-Arab.

According to Maritime Gateway News, the five container shipping berths, which have been constructed by Daewoo E&C, a company located in South Korea, can each hold ships up to 23,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

With 100 berths and the capacity to handle 7.5 million TEU annually, the Al-Faw Grand Port is expected to surpass Dubai’s 67-berth Jebel Ali as the largest container port in the Middle East when finished in 2038.

Four million TEU of containers may be handled annually by the port’s first phase, which is anticipated to be finished in 2028.

By connecting the port city of Basra to Turkey via an overland route, the $7 billion logistics project will compete with Egypt’s Suez Canal and establish Basra as a gateway to Europe.

The lofty project, which aims to connect Asia and Europe through gas and oil pipelines, rail networks, and road networks, includes the 2.4-kilometer underwater tunnel as a key component.

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Sisi: Suez Canal revenue losses amounted to $800 million due to the situation in the region.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that the Suez Canal revenue losses amounted to $800 million due to the situation in the region.

El-Sisi pointed to the difficult circumstances facing the world and the Middle East, explaining that Egypt has managed to move forward with steady, measured steps despite the challenges it has faced over the past fifteen years, including the economic crises that have also affected the world. The country is incurring monthly losses estimated at approximately $800 million in Suez Canal revenue due to the situation in the region.

In contrast, Sisi affirmed that the Egyptian economy is witnessing positive indicators, pointing to the International Monetary Fund's recent approval of a new tranche of aid to Egypt. He also praised the role and cohesion of the Egyptian people and the strength of state institutions, particularly the armed forces and the civil police, as they represent the country's cornerstone in these exceptional times.