Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Monday it will spend $100 million to develop the second phase of Basra Gateway Terminal in Iraq.
ICTSI chairman Enrique Razon signed the expansion of agreement for the second major development phase of BGT in North Port, Umm Qasr, Iraq.
ICTSI said two new berths would be developed covering a 20 hectare yard area which will raise annual BGT’s container handling capacity by 600,000 twenty-foot equivalent units to a total of 1,200,000 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.
Combined with the adjacent Berth 27, it will offer a continuous berthing line of 600 meters.
“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.
“Our commitment to provide international standard port facilities and services in Iraq is plain to see. It also represents the fruit of a positive working relationship with the Iraq Ministry of Transport, General Company for Ports of Iraq and Governorate of Basra as well as other government agencies. This combined effort will, when the new facilities are completed in 18 months time, deliver the new facilities that are essential to support Iraq’s key economic objectives including the resurgence of the non-oil economy,” he said.
The new $100-million investment will be undertaken by ICTSI subsidiary BGT with construction scheduled to start immediately.
“Since we commenced operations at the North Port, Umm Qasr, we have striven to meet the new requirements of ship owners and deliver international standard services. The development of Berth 27, formally inaugurated in October 2016, 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 Phillip Marsham said.
When fully developed, Berths 25, 26 and 27 will offer a continuous 600-meter berthing line and 50 hectares of yard area. The new container handling systems will work in conjunction with state-of-the-art terminal operating systems and benefit from ongoing staff training and continuous improvement of systems.
Hans-Ole Madsen, ICTSI senior vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa said BGT raised the bar in container handling service in Umm Qasr and Iraq as a whole.
“The new berths will, through both capacity expansion and the installation of modern infrastructure and handling systems, open the door to even higher levels of efficiency. 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, which operates 27 terminals in 17 countries earlier posted a net income of $103.6 million in the first half of the year, up 19 percent from $87.3 million a year ago.
Gross revenues from port operations increased 10 percent in the first half to $603.7 million from $550.8 million reported in the same period in 2016.
