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Updated in Dec. 2017 by Capt. Wolf Lampe, Consultant seconded by BLG LOGISTICS, Bremen/Germany.
The access to Umm Qasr is maintained at a depth allowing max. vessel’s draught of 11 m.
Pilots are stationed off the coast. Tidal range is 3,0 to 3,4m.
Umm Qasr Port is Iraq's only deep-water port. Umm Qasr port consists of three separate ports, known as Umm Qasr South Port, Umm Qasr North Port and Umm Qasr Mid. The ports are independent and have separate port directors/managers, but fall under the administrative and financial umbrella of the General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI). Within the port boundaries, a number of operators and container terminals handle loading, discharging and warehousing operations.
GCPI is a state company under the Ministry of Transport in Iraq. Founded in October 9, 1919, GCPI manages all of the Iraqi ports and navigation in the territorial waters and administrates maintenance and dredging in the navigational channels www.scp.gov.iq/.
The southern port is the older of the two, constructed during the 1940s. The port offers bonded storage for containers only. The Iraqi Port Authorities (IPA) are 2017 in the process of removing all covered warehouses in the port; for private cargo, all services and equipment are provided by private terminal operators. The IPA has created a new “electronic gate” control system for calling, stevedoring and invoicing vessels. This system is operated and monitored from a control room that tracks vessel movements and can review the paperwork converted to the electronic system.
Currently this port comprises of nine berths operated by different operators as listed below:
Layout of Umm Qasr South Port, Main Discharging Activities during Port Rehabilitation
The northern port was constructed during the 1970s and can receive all types of cargo - Containerized, Bulk Break and Ro-Ro. Most of the port berths are operated by a number of private terminal operators who have the required resources to handle and store all types of cargo.
Umm Qasr North Port is presently (2017/18) Iraq’s busiest port. Currently this port comprises of 14 berths operated by different operators as listed below. Berths no. 23 to 26 were under construction at the time of the assessments. The port is heavily congested by trucks waiting to be admitted to the port and trucks waiting for import cargo clearance. Traffic flow and operations are hindered by waiting trucks as well as by trucks and cars moving along the berths to enter or exit the port. The overall aspect of North Port can be described as well-organized container yards (Gulftainer Terminal (ICT), Basrah Multipurpose Terminal (BMT), Basrah Gateway Terminal (BGT/ICTSI) and Umm Qasr Logistics Centre (UQLC)) embedded in a multi-purpose port area.
The rail connection between the port and the capital was recently re-activated. Containers can be moved to a bonded rail terminal in Baghdad at roughly half the cost of using trucks for the same distance. Currently trains are scheduled once a week. The rail terminal might has the potential to qualify as a dry port.
Layout of Umm Qasr North Port
This port is used for multipurpose cargo. No more information available.
The following are focal points from the active terminals operating/cargo handling companies:
Port website: Iraq Ports Website
Port Location and Contact | |
---|---|
COUNTRY | IRAQ |
Province or District | BASRA |
Name of the Port | Umm Qasr North Port / Umm Qasr South Port |
Nearest Town or City with Distance from Port | Name: Basra City km: 76 KM |
Latitude | Latitude: 30° 03′ N / 30° 01,5’ N |
Longitude | Longitude: 047°56′ E / 047° 57’ E |
Managing Authority / Agency | Iraq Port Authority (IPA) General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) – Ministry of Transport |
Contact Person |
|
Berth 21 (BGT)- Umm Qasr North
Berth 19 (BGT)-Umm Qasr North
Bonded Warehouse (BMT)-Umm Qasr North
Gulftainer/Dry Port Cold Storage Warehouse - Umm Qasr North
Gulftainer/Dry Port Yard – Cold Storage Containers
Description and Contacts of Key Companies
General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) is a governmental company under the Ministry of Transport in Iraq. It was founded in October 9, 1919. It manages all of the Iraqi ports and navigation in the territorial waters and administrates maintenance and dredging of the navigational channels.
For further information, visit the Ministry of Transportation
4.4 Iraq Port and Waterways Company Contact List
The maximum size of container vessels calling Umm Qasr is about 5,000 TEU.
Handling Figures | Year 2017 | ||
---|---|---|---|
Vessel Calls | ca. 90 vessels / month | ||
Container Traffic (TEUs) | ca. 45.000 TEU/month | ||
Handling Figures Bulk and Break Bulk | Year …. | ||
Bulk (MT) | n/a | ||
Break bulk (MT) | n/a |
Umm Qasr South Port, General Cargo Discharge onto Truck at IPA-Terminal
Bagged cargo is discharged directly onto trucks.
Equipment | Available (Yes / No) | Total Quantity and Capacity Available | Comments on Current Condition and Actual Usage |
---|---|---|---|
Dockside Crane | Yes | n/a | Decommissioned, not yet removed from pier |
Container Gantries | Yes | 8 | Operational |
Mobile Cranes | Yes | 8 | up to 100 ton capacity available at the port |
Reachstacker | Yes | Average of 5 to 10 in each berth | Operational |
RoRo Tugmaster (w/ Trailer) | Yes | Around 12 | Operational |
Grain Elevator w/ Bagging Machines | Yes | n/a meets the demand | All operational |
Transtrainer | Yes | 2 | Operational |
Forklifts | Yes | n/a meets the demand | All operational |
RoRo berth facilities
North Port, Ro-Ro & Container Berths
Gulftainer Terminal (ICT)
Located at berth 11, container operations by ship to shore gantries (STS) and mobile cranes. Main shipping line Maersk. Yard equipped with reefer points.
Iraqi state company for ports manages the port equipment: it has subcontracted with some other international companies for this purpose.
Equipment | Available (Yes / No) | Total Quantity and Capacity Available | Comments on Current Condition and Actual Usage |
---|---|---|---|
Dockside Crane | Yes | n/a | Range between poor to good |
Container Gantries | Yes | 4 | Operational |
Mobile Cranes | Yes | 1 | 45 ton capacity available at the port |
Reachstacker | Yes | Average of 5 to 10 in each berth | Operational |
RoRo Tugmaster (w/ Trailer) | Yes | Around 12 | Operational |
Grain Elevator w/ Bagging Machines | Yes | n/a meet s the demand | All operational |
Transtrainer | Yes | n/a | Operational |
Forklifts | Yes | n/a meets the demand | All operational |
30° 04’ N, 047° 55’ E
UQLC is a dry port within the port perimeter offering container storage and stripping (thus avoiding container demurrage) before clearing customs. Services offered: Storage incl. yard and warehouse storage, cold/refrigerated storage, clearing agency, customs on site, accommodation and office space.
UQLC is owned/operated by the Gulftainer group and uses the ICT Gulftainer terminal on berth 11 for loading/discharging.
Umm Qasr North Port, Warehouse at UQLC
Umm Qasr North Port, UQLC Yard
BMT operates containers and general cargo on berth 12 to 15 with five mobile cranes. The container yard is equipped with reefer points. Main shipping line currently MSC.
Umm Qasr North Port, BMT Operations
At the time of the assessment (Dec. 2017) the container BMT-yard was working well below its capacity limit.
Umm Qasr North Port, BMT Yard
General Cargo can be stored in 8 warehouses measuring 6.500 m² each. The warehouses are in good condition.
Berth 19 to 21, container operations by ship to shore gantries and mobile cranes, RoRo-vessels are handled at berth 21.
Umm Qasr North Port, BGT, Berth 19-21
BGT handles general cargo as well as containers, warehouses are currently sub-utilized.
Umm Qasr North Port, BGT Warehouse at Berth 19
Opened in 2016 on newly constructed Berth 27, container operations by ship to shore gantry cranes (STS), yard movements by rubber-tyred transtainers (RTG). Shipping lines using this terminal include Evergreen, Cosco, Hapag-Lloyd (HLC) and CMA CGM.
Umm Qasr North Port, BGT Container Terminal at Berth 27
At Umm Qasr South Port terminal operators Gulftainer and CMA CGM are handling containers, Iraqi Port Authority (IPA) is handling bulk and general cargo.
Umm Qasr South Port, Gulftainer Jetty with Mobile Ship-To-Shore Crane
Umm Qasr South Port, Gantry Cranes of CMA CGM Container Terminal
Facilities | 20’/40’ |
---|---|
Container Facilities Available | Yes |
Container Freight Station (CFS) | Yes |
Refrigerated Container Stations | No |
Other Capacity Details |
|
Daily Take Off Capacity (Containers per day) | n/a |
Number of Reefer Stations (connection points) | n/a |
Emergency Take-off Capacity (Give an indication) | Peak capacity very likely not depending on gantry and mobile port crane productivity, but on traffic flow within the port and – once yards are fully occupied - clearance procedures |
Off take capacity of gang shift (in Containers per shift) | n/a |
X-ray scanners are used to scan entire containers. Inspections are carried out by customs, representatives of the Ministry of Health and the secret service once a container is loaded onto the truck and ready to leave the port. Custom officers are supposed to work 7 days a week from 08:00 to 17:00 hrs. Samples of imported food are analysed at Basrah or Baghdad. The clearance of food items is facilitated if the producer is certified by Bureau Veritas.
Strict adherence to customs and health regulations is mandatory to avoid delays when clearing the cargo. The regulatory framework of Iraqi authorities is likely to adapt to current economic developments and changes of rules and regulations are likely. Constant updating the WFP custom information guide (CIG) for all relevant commodities should be a priority – including the option of shipments to Baghdad under Through Bill of Lading (TBL).
If the importing organisation is exempted from customs and tax fees, it must submit an exemption/facilitation request through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). An exemption/facilitation letter must be received and registered at the Customs Directorate of Umm Qasr Port through the official channels before the arrival of the shipment to the port.
The required original shipping documents are:
Before the customs clearance process starts, the cargo is to be discharged from the vessel within 1 - 3 days after arrival and transferred to a bonded storage facility waiting for customs clearance (usually the process of discharge and transfer to storage is done by the private terminal operators who will pay all official fees and submit the receipts to the customer).
The allowed period to keep cargo in the bonded storage yards/warehouses before it is charged for storage is 10 days in the Iraqi Ports Authorities (IPA) bonded storage, or 20 days if it is stored in private terminal operators’ bonded storage.
If all the required documents, mentioned above in the above section (Documentation) are available, the customs procedure will be handled by the clearance agent.
Although the process is always subject to changes, usually without notice, the steps of the clearing process are as follows:
The customs duties tariff can be found on the website of General Directorate of Customs at www.customs.mof.gov.iq. This contains a list, in Arabic, of various types of materials and the customs duties percentage. The customs duties are calculated as a percentage, depending on the type of item; the item’s value is in turn estimated by a customs committee at the entry point.
To acquire the exemption/facilitation letter, the following steps need to be followed (although the procedure may be subject to changes):
Note: A general exemption/facilitation letter for all humanitarian shipments, instead of issuing a request for each shipment, is under negotiation with Iraqi authorities.
It is feasible to secure bonded warehouse space within any of the terminal operators’ facilities, as bonded warehouses with large capacities and good conditions are available.
For non-bonded storage, it is feasible to set up a warehouse within Basra city, either private or state-owned (MoT) warehouses/compounds.
Trucking services with different capacities are available at port. During the assessment period, three potential warehouse suppliers were visited and the details can be requested from WFP/Logistics Cluster.
Vessel agents are coordinating delivery from the cargo ship to the truck, ensuring that the proper cargo is delivered to the correct trucker.
The Terminal Operator companies listed (listed on page 2) have the capacity to perform stevedoring and bagging.
Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) - Umm Qasr
While the ports in Iraq have been safe for several years, there are still areas of the Iraq hinterland where security remains a real and high-profile concern. The stevedoring companies working at the Port recognize this fact.
Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) Microsites - Umm Qasr
Reinforced and gated security procedures are in place.
Security | ||
---|---|---|
ISPS Compliant (Yes / No) | No |
|
Current ISPS Level | n/a | Level 1 = Normal, Level 2 = Heightened, Level 3 = Exceptional |