Shafaq News – Basra

Development work is continuing on the navigation channel of the Grand Faw Port, a strategic project designed to boost maritime traffic, Iraq’s General Company for Ports announced Saturday.

Project director Mokhlid Abdulhussein Ali told Shafaq News the channel stretches 23km with a width of 200m and depths reaching 19.8m, according to the approved design, adding that more than 57 million cubic meters of material have so far been excavated and deposited in designated areas, in line with environmental safeguards.

Ali noted that technical teams have also completed construction of two offshore platforms — one for meteorological studies and another for hydrographic monitoring of currents, rainfall, humidity, wind, pressure, and tidal activity. The stations are linked to a control system inside the port, providing engineers with real-time data to support safe and efficient operations.

The information gathered is sent directly to the communications division of the General Company for Ports, forming part of a modern monitoring system aimed at enhancing decision-making and ensuring maritime safety in the channel and port.

Earlier this week, the company said it had begun submerging the fifth concrete element of the immersed tunnel at Grand Faw, known as “Azal,” the first segment to pass through the deepest section of the Khor al-Zubair waterway — a step described as pivotal in the port’s construction.