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Iraqi Port News

11 Jan 2024

Iran Confirms Seizure of Oil Tanker Involved in US-Iran Dispute

© evannovostro / Adobe Stock

Iran seized a tanker with Iraqi crude destined for Turkey on Thursday in retaliation for the confiscation last year of the same vessel and its oil by the U.S., Iranian state media reported, a move likely to stoke regional tensions.The seizure of the Marshall Islands-flagged St Nikolas coincides with weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting Red Sea shipping routes."After the theft of Iranian oil by the United States last year, St Nikolas tanker was seized by Iran's Navy this morning with a judicial order ...

11 Jan 2024

Oil Tanker Involved in US-Iran Dispute Boarded by Armed Guards Near Oman

© Vladimir / Adobe stock

An oil tanker caught up in a dispute last year between the United States and Iran was boarded by armed individuals off the coast of Oman on Thursday and appeared to have changed course towards Iran, according to UK maritime sources.The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker St Nikolas was boarded by armed intruders as it sailed close to the Omani city of Sohar, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, and its AIS tracking system was turned off as it headed in the direction…

30 Dec 2020

S. Korea's Daewoo Nets $2.6 Bln Iraqi Port Deal

© luzitanija / Adobe Stock

Iraq agreed a $2.625 billion deal with South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction on Wednesday to build the first phase at its planned Faw commodities port in the south of the country.Under the contract, signed in Baghdad by representatives of Iraq’s transportation ministry and the South Korean company, Daewoo E&C will handle construction work including building five berths to unload ships and a yard for containers.Daweoo will also carry out dredging and drilling works to create an access navigation channel, Farhan al-Fartousi, Iraq’s director general at the General Company for Ports, tol

14 Jun 2018

APM Terminals' New Gateway to Iraq

New pre-arrival clearance protocols and reduced terminal handling charges for containers in transit, mean that Jordan’s deep-water Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT), located on the Red Sea, is now a realistic alternative maritime gateway for Iraq-bound cargo. Containers imported into Iraq will no longer have to be trans-loaded onto new trucks as they cross the Jordanian/Iraqi border. “The Aqaba Container Terminal has been working hard over the years to develop a competitive gateway to Iraq," says ACT Managing Director Steven Yoogalingam. Ideally located, the ACT is 550km - or 36 hours by road - from the Iraqi border town of Traibil and 48 hours from Baghdad. This development comes as the volume of Iraqi imports experience rapid growth - 86% last year alone.

07 Apr 2016

China Teapot Refiners Create Qingdao Tanker Jam

Tankers at Qingdao port face up to 30-day wait. At least 15 large tankers wait to offload -shiptracking data. A surge in oil buying by China's newest crude importers has created delays of up to a month for vessels to offload cargoes at Qingdao port, imposing costly fees and complicating efforts to sell to the world's hottest new buyers. China's independent refiners, freed of government constraints after securing permission to import just last year, have gorged on plentiful low-cost crude in 2016. This has created delays for tankers that have quadrupled to between 20 to 30 days at Qingdao port in Shandong province, the key import hub for the plants, known as teapots, according to port agents and ship-tracking data.

06 Apr 2016

Huge Tanker Traffic Jam Builds at Basra

Nearly 30 large oil tankers waiting to load at Basra; daily VLCC tanker rates have doubled to nearly $75,000. A traffic jam of nearly 30 large oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra due to loading delays, with some waiting up to three weeks and costing ship operators around $75,000 a day per vessel. Shippers and port sources said more delays are expected throughout April as the city's facilities struggle to cope with Iraq's soaring crude output. The problems at Basra, coupled with continuing storage tank shortages in China, have pushed supertanker rates from the Middle East to Asia to unseasonal highs as the delays disrupt future sailing schedules and charterers cover future tonnage requirements.

01 Apr 2015

Tanker Backlog Builds at Basra

Ships face up to a three week wait; bad weather in February delayed loading, created backlog. SINGAPORE, April 1 (Reuters) - A backlog of over 30 oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra and shippers face lengthy delays of up to three weeks to load oil because of bad weather and possible oil quality issues, shipping industry sources said. The problems could delay or limit the number of oil export cargoes from Basra in April, potentially pushing down tanker freight rates, two Singapore ship brokers familiar with the issue said. More than 30 oil tankers, two-thirds of them supertankers (VLCC), with a combined capacity of around 50 million barrels are currently lying outside Basra, some of them since mid-March, Reuters shipping data shows.

13 Feb 2015

ICTSI expanding in Australia, Iraq

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has paid $5.8 million for the remaining 10 percent of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) it doesn’t own that was held by Anglo Ports. ICTSI now fully controls VICT, who in 2014 signed a $509m agreement to design, build, commission, operate, maintain and finance the Port of Melbourne’s new international container terminal. The new container terminal is part of Melbourne’s us$1.5 billion port capacity project, which the port believes is vital for economic growth in the Australian state of Victoria. Meanwhile, Basra Gateway Terminal (BGT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ICTSI Inc., said operations at the Port of Umm Qasr in Iraq are now in full swing.

14 Nov 2013

Transas Equips Arabian Gulf Academy in Basra

Photo: Transas

Arabian Gulf Academy For Maritime Studies, situated in Basra - the biggest Iraqi port and one of the biggest cities of the country - will soon be able to offer its students a hands-on training using three simulators from Transas: Engine Room simulator ERS 5000, GMDSS simulator and Radar/ARPA simulator. The simulators will provide trainees with a wide range of navigational and engineering skills. Engineers will acquire knowledge of operating an engine room, using ERS 5000. Trainees can receive training based on a general cargo vessel model…

29 Oct 2013

Iraqi Port of Basra Container Terminal Opens

NAWAH logo

NAWAH Port Management (NPM), a business unit of North America Western Asia Holdings (NAWAH), in partnership with the General Company for Ports of Iraq, has launched the first phase of a containerized terminal at Al Maqal Port, also known as the Port of Basra. The opening ceremony marked the completion of an essential yearlong phase for NAWAH and the modernization project for Al Maqal, culminating in the initiation of commercial operations at the newly containerized Berth 14. This…

26 Mar 2013

CMA CGM Announces New Dry Port in Baghdad

After more than thirty three years of continuous presence in Iraq, the CMA CGM Group will open a new bonded Dry Port near Baghdad in the Abu Ghreib area, in Iraq, in June 2013. Exclusively managed and operated by CMA CGM, the Dry Port will be the only one in Iraq, giving customers the opportunity to custom clear their cargo near Baghdad instead of Umm Qasr, according their convenience time. The Dry Port will connect to CMA CGM’s inland transportation network, with a possible railway connection three kilometers away from the site and fast in bond transit from Umm Qasr. The storage facilities for full containers, LCL and refrigerated cargo will benefit from 24 hours surveillance and security services, keeping the cargo safe at all times.

11 Apr 2011

This Day in U.S. Coast Guard History - April 11

1917- With the outbreak of World War I, the President issued an executive order transferring 30 lighthouse tenders to the War Department. All were subsequently assigned to the Navy Department and 15 lighthouse tenders, four lightships, and 21 light stations also were transferred to the Navy Department. One more tender was transferred on 31 January 1918 making a total of 50 vessels and 1,132 persons. The War Department used those assigned in laying submarine defense nets during and in removing these defenses after the war. Other duties performed by these vessels were placing practice targets, buoys to mark wrecks of torpedoed vessels and other marks for military purposes, as well as being employed on patrols and special duty assignments.

14 Aug 2003

Joint Venture Returns from the Gulf

returning from the Persian Gulf in service with U.S. defense forces. evening of September 11, 2001 (AEST) the towers of the World Trade Center fell in New York. exercises and experiments but quite quickly went into service in the War against Terrorism. Freedom. base for Marine Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams and Navy SEAL commandos. for HSV 2 Swift. familiarization and training run for their forthcoming high speed service on Swift. Joint Venture returns to the shipyard at Hobart for a brief period of scheduled maintenance. course of the maintenance period.

10 Feb 2004

Port of NY and NJ Manager to Lead U.S. Effort to Rebuild Iraq’s Port System

Thomas H. Wakeman III, who currently oversees The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s $2 billion port dredging program, has been appointed by the U.S. Department of Defense to assist Iraq in rebuilding its national port system. Wakeman, a White Plains, N.Y., resident, will serve as the Principal Maritime Advisor to the Iraq Ministry of Transportation for up to 18 months beginning on March 1. While in Iraq, Mr. Wakeman will be on a leave of absence from his Port Authority job as General Manager of Waterways Development in the Port Commerce Department. He will report to Ambassador Darrell Trent, the Coalition Provisional Authority’s senior advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of Transportation. Ambassador Trent reports to Ambassador L.

11 Dec 2000

UN Keeps Vigil Eye On Iraqi Surcharge

There is no chance of the United Nations turning a blind eye to any oil companies that pay a surcharge that Iraq is continuing to demand for its oil exports, United Nations diplomats said. "No way are we going to be turning a blind eye to this," one diplomat said when asked if the United Nations could overlook such payments."Industry sources said that Iraq is insisting that customers for its crude under the United Nations oil-for-food program pay a 40 cents per barrel surcharge direct to an Iraqi account before liftings resume. Under U.N. rules all revenues from oil-for-food go direct to a U.N. escrow account. Iraq's oil exports have been stopped for ten days on disputes over payments.

13 Aug 2003

HSV 2 Swift Delivered to U.S. Navy

The new Catamaran HSV 2 Swift was delivered to the U.S. Navy yesterday during a celebration in Hobart, Australia. High ranking US Military officers joined with invited guests to witness the handover of the 98 metre Wave Piercing Catamaran HSV 2 Swift, Incat Hull 061. Guests were welcomed on board HSV 2 Swift by His Excellency The Honourable Sir Guy Green, AC, KBE, CVO, Governor of Tasmania. With the Royal Australian Air Force band playing, flags flying and the usual pomp and ceremony associated with such events, the 80 or so US officers and crew were joined by representatives of the Australian Defence Force, invited guests and the entire Incat workforce.

06 Dec 1999

Taiwan Tanker Spill Minimal, Says Operator

The Greek operator of the Panamanian-registered oil tanker Devon confirmed that the ship had leaked oil off the southern Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung, but said only a small amount was spilled. Earlier port officials had said a one km long spill had been left in the Taiwan Strait after the ship was found to be leaking oil when it approached a dock. "The spillage was minimal - no more than two barrels at most," a spokesman for Piraeus-based ship operator European Navigation Inc. said. The 269,895 dwt vessel was anchored in port, and an investigation was being held into where the leak had originated, he said. An improperly closed valve was suspected as a possible source.

14 Apr 2003

Coast Guard, Navy Escort Arab Aid Shipment to Iraq

The Coast Guard Cutter Wrangell and USS Firebolt, with embarked Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 406, escorted the first commercially transported humanitarian aid shipment into the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr on friday. The Motor Vessel Manar, owned by Manar Marine Services of the United Arab Emirates, delivered almost 700 tons of humanitarian aid including food, water, first aid and transport vehicles. This aid shipment was supplied and coordinated by the UAE Red Crescent Society. This is the fourth aid shipment to arrive in Umm Qasr since the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The first three shipments were transported on British and Spanish naval vessels.