The port is a window for foreign communication and trade, and the importance of the coastline to a country is self-evident, it is the cornerstone of the development of the port, and it is the booster of economic development. Today, we will talk about the embarrassing coastline of Iraq, a Middle Eastern country, and the construction status of its fao port.
Iraq's embarrassing coastline status quo
Iraq is a big country in the Middle East, with a land area of 438,300 square kilometers and a population of about 40 million, iraq is the world's main oil producer and an important oil exporter. According to relevant information, Iraq's crude oil reserves exceed 150 billion barrels, accounting for about 12% of the world's oil reserves.
Iraq's poor coastline Source: Geo Valley
However, Iraq only has less than 60 km of coastline, and this only 60 km is not a good coastline.
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, when they join in Kernay in Iraq, are called the Shatt al-Arab and are about 193 km long. Extending southeast to the confluence of the Karen River from Iran near Basra, about 100 kilometers below it forms a boundary river between iran and Iran, which flows into the Persian Gulf north of Fao.
Schematic diagram of the Shatt al-Arab River Source: Bureau of Earth Knowledge
Iraq belongs to the Persian Gulf coastal countries, for thousands of years the Euphrates and Tigris rivers not only brought abundant water and fertile silt to the two river basins, but also brought a large amount of silt to the lower reaches of the two rivers, and the port construction conditions were not good.
Not only is the coastline heavily silted, according to the agreement between Iraq and Iran, the Shatt al-Arab Ishi is divided equally by the two countries along the middle line of the river, and only half of the Al-Shatt al-Arab, which is not very wide, can be used by Iraqi shipping, so that if the sailors do not pay attention, the ship will drive to the Iranian territorial waters...
Iraq's other inlet waterway, the Zubair waterway, was divided into two waterways by two small islands belonging to Kuwait after entering the Persian Gulf, Volbai Island and Bubiyan Island, and Iraq has only half the sovereignty of one of them, abdullah waterway...
Schematic map of Iraq's sea exit Source: Daming
Whether it's the Abdullah waterway or the Shatt al-Shatt al-Arab, Iraq is only halfway there.
Iraq's embarrassing sea exit Source: Earth Knowledge Bureau
Iraq's coastline is heavily silted, the water depth is obviously insufficient, the natural and excellent seaport is a fantasy, the construction of a new deep-water port for large ships to dock is very difficult, and at present can only rely on inland navigation or through the seaports of Jordan and Kuwait for foreign shipping operations. Borrow other countries' ports to transship oil. This road seems simple, but in practice it is difficult to operate, often looking at the faces of other countries and acting, unable to decide their own destiny.
In Iraq's gloomy historical memory, the Irretrievable Iran-Iraq War, the war between Iraq and Kuwait, and many historical and practical reasons, the battle for coastline is also an important factor.
Construction of the Port of Fao, Iraq
Although the 60km coastline is not suitable for port construction, Iraq's dream of going to sea is unbroken. The development of the port of Fao is an important option for Iraq to go to sea, and it seems to be the only option.
Fao port is one of the partial ports in Iraq, located in the southeast of Iraq, on the west bank of the coastal Arabian River estuary, bordering the top of the Persian Gulf, and is the largest oil port in Iraq. It is also a transit point for oil exports, and the port has a tropical desert climate with prevailing west-northwest winds. The average annual temperature is 14 to 30 °C, the highest has reached 48 °C, and the lowest is 4 °C. The average rainfall throughout the year is about 100mm. Average tide height: high tide is 3m, low tide is 0.4m.
At present, the port is divided into two parts: 1) The Fao port area, mainly a "T" shaped embankment pier, has 4 berths, the shoreline is about 650m long, and the maximum water depth is 10.9m. The Fao port area is 4,000 tons per hour, and the Amyer berth reaches 9,000 tons per hour. Crude oil from Rumaila, Zubair and other oil fields is exported through this port, with an annual output of about 20 million tons. 2) Ameyer sea berth, divided into east and west sides, the shoreline is about 790m long, the water depth is 22m, and the maximum reliable is 300,000 dwt super oil tanker. Loading and unloading equipment include shore cranes, tugboats and pipelines with a diameter of 254~406mm, of which the maximum power of the tugboat is 2942kW. Located about 17n mile from the mouth of the Shatt al-Shatt Altoge, the new Ameyer Sea Berth is a large deep-water tanker berth. It is home to the Iraqi Port Management Centre and houses the Arabian River Management Station, port radios, signal stations and a helicopter airfield.
For the development of the Fao Port, as early as 2010, the Cornerstone of the Fao Port Project was laid. At that time, the South Korean company reached a final contract agreement with the Iraqi government for the construction of the Fao port, and the cost of the project was expected to be $4.6 billion. However, there are many factors in reality, corruption and extortion in the project, and the competition between various forces, and the progress is extremely slow. During this period, there were also rumors of executive executives committing suicide under pressure and extortion.
In the Iraqi government's plan, by 2028, the port of Fao will be able to transport about 36 million tons of container cargo – about 4 million 20-foot equivalent containers – and about 22 million tons of dry bulk cargo. By 2038, this will reach 7.5 million containers and 33 million tons of dry bulk cargo. These late stages are expected to cost $4.3 billion. The quay is about 7 km long and the port is 18 meters deep and can accommodate any container ships that are in operation. There will also be a 400m wide and 24km long dredging channel, protected by a gravel breakwater of about 15km. The final phase of the project includes the construction of nearly 100 berths to serve the port, which will then surpass Dubai's Jebel Ali to become the largest port overlooking the Persian Gulf and the tenth port in the world, which is currently the largest port in the Middle East with 67 berths.
The completed breakwater is said to have been declared by the United Nations as the world's longest breakwater
In December 2020, the Iraqi Minister of Transport signed an agreement with The Daewoo Engineering construction Company of South Korea to undertake the first phase of the Fao-Austrian Port by Daewoo of South Korea, with a contract value of US$2.625 billion. The project is expected to last four years, and the annual throughput of the project will reach 100 million tons after completion. This includes the construction of five berths, a container yard and a navigation channel. In addition to container terminal and port works, the project will involve the construction of one of the world's largest undersea tunnels, access to the shallower port of um Qasr, and new roads to improve traffic with Basra.
In May 2021, the Prime Minister of Iraq once again represented the government in laying the foundation stone for the Fao Grand Port project.
In late December 2021, the first phase of the dredging project of the Iraqi port of Fao officially started, and the executor was CCCC Tianjin Aviation Bureau. The main construction contents include the excavation of 1672 meters long quay foundation troughs with 5 berths, the excavation of 3.3 million square meters of port ponds, the excavation of a channel with a total length of 23 kilometers, a bottom width of 220 meters and a depth of 19.8 meters, and a total dredging volume of about 107 million cubic meters. The amount of dredging is huge, and it is the largest overseas single dredging project since the establishment of the company.
Iraq hopes that after the completion of the project, it will reverse the situation of Iraq's short coastline and poor port throughput capacity and lay the foundation for Iraq's economic development.