ICTSI investing $100 M to expand Iraq terminal
ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. (left) shakes hands with GCPI director Chief Riyadh after signing the expansion agreement. Looking on is Basra Mas CEO Ali Kh. Khalaf.
MANILA, Philippines — International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is investing $100 million for the expansion of the Basra Gateway Terminal (BGT) in Iraq.
In a statement yesterday, the port operator said ICTSI chairman and president Enrique Razon Jr. has signed the expansion agreement with General Company for Ports of Iraq director (GCPI) Chief Riyadh and Basra Mas chief executive officer Ali Kh. Khalaf.
“This new $100 million investment follows hot on the heels of ICTSI’s development of berth 27 and the rehabilitation and upgrade of berths 19, 20 and 21, a $150 million investment,” Razon said.
ICTSI subsidiary BGT will make the investment for the expansion.
Construction, which is expected to begin immediately, will be completed within 18 months.
The expansion will cover the construction of two new berths, as well as a 20-hectare yard area to raise the annual container handling capacity of BGT by 600,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 1.2 milliown TEUs.
The berths will be configured and equipped with quay and landside container handling systems to handle container vessels of up to 10,000 TEUs.
Once fully developed, berths 25, 26 and 27 will offer a continuous 600-meter berthing line and 50 hectares of yard area.
“The development of berth 27 represented enormous progress in this respect and the current expansion project will consolidate and expand this important work. Like other ports worldwide, Umm Qasr is now facing the challenge of handling larger size vessels,” BGT chief executive officer Phillip Marsham said.
Hans-Ole Madsen, ICTSI senior vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa said the expansion would increase the capacity and make operations at the BGT more efficient.
“BGT is unique in undertaking hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in Umm Qasr and as a result is able to progressively deliver a superior service to the benefit of Iraqi cargo owners, shipping lines and the Iraq economy as a whole,” he said.
ICTSI is engaged in the development, management and operations of gateway terminals.
At present, it operates 31 terminals in 19 countries.
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