Two million TEUs have gone through Gulftainer's Iraq terminals since 2009

The company plans to increase the handling capacity of the Iraq Container Terminal to 650,000 TEUs in 2019.

UAE-based Gulftainer, the world’s largest privately-owned independent port operator, has registered container volumes of two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) at the Iraq Container Terminal in the southern Iraqi port of Umm Al Qasr port since beginning operations there nine years ago, the company has announced.

Gulftainer was the first foreign investor to launch a JV with the General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI), and began operations there in August 2010.

The company has invested heavily to build a 376-metre berth and container storage area within the 342,000 square metre terminal that currently has the capacity to handle 400,000 TEUs per year.

The berth is equipped with two ship-to-shore gantry cranes, as well as two mobile harbour cranes with a 100 tonnes lifting capacity, in addition to a number of other container handling equipment.

ICT currently employs 250 Iraqi citizens as well as a support team of 50 expatriates.

Since November 2018, Gulftainer also operates the Iraq South Terminal (IST) that features 230 metres of quay and a yard handling capacity of 100,000 TEUs per annum.

“The latest developments at Iraq Container Terminal and Iraq South Terminal in 2018 mark impressive milestones for Gulftainer in Iraq,” said Gulftainer Iraq general manager Nic Gray. “The company offers reliable services, fast vessel turnarounds, competitive rates, 48-hour customers clearance, dedicated in and out gates and an on-terminal customers scanner.”

Gray added that “in 2019, Gulftainer plans to expand its storage space by introducing two new yards and increasing ICT’s annual handling capacity to 650,000 TEUs.

“In addition, the company will launch a new customer web portal, allowing for container and vessel tracking, generating online proforma invoices and sharing up-to-date terminal information.”