Umm Qasr was nothing but a small village containing a small fishing port in Basra Governorate, in the far south of Iraq, but its importance began to increase with the passage of time due to its strategic location overlooking the Arabian Gulf.

On March 26, 1961, the late President Abd al-Karim Qasim laid the foundation stone for the port of Umm Qasr, accompanied by the Director General of Ports, Major General Mazhar al-Shawi and a number of senior officials at the time, to become one of the most important Iraqi ports to the present day.

Al-Braikan: In 1967, the first commercial ship "Makran" docked in the port (Al-Jazeera Net).

Foundation stone

According to journalist and writer Majid Al-Braikan, the cost of constructing Umm Qasr port amounted to 18 million Iraqi dinars at the time, and in 1967 the first commercial vessel called "Makran" docked with a crane with Pakistani flag masts, and was loaded with a large shipment of Ceylon tea.

Al-Braikan added to Al-Jazeera Net that since then and until now, Umm Qasr is the largest and most important Iraqi commercial port, and due to its large area and capacity of activity, the Ministry of Transport decided in 2010 to split it into two ports each with a special administration, namely the southern port of Umm Qasr and the northern port of Umm Qasr.

Regarding the atmosphere of the port’s founding celebrations, Dr. Intisar, daughter of Major General Al Shawi, who attended the foundation stone laying ceremony with her father at the time, said, “I was a high school student in the Maqal region in Basra, and I remember that my father was accompanied by President Qassem to lay the foundation stone for Umm Qasr port, and I participated with high school students The stronghold of the President’s reception activities, and we wore navy scout clothes, while I was hitting the drum as they marched to the tones of the drum in front of Qasim and the guests.

And she confirms to Al-Jazeera Net that the construction of Umm Qasr port reflected positively on the lives of the poor of Basra and the southern governorates, as housing was distributed to workers, as well as bringing machines to lift goods instead of carrying them on the shoulders, as was the case previously, and the port administration was interested in supporting sports and various activities.

Al-Mashhadani estimates that the port of Umm Qasr generates about one million dollars a day, which makes it an important resource (Al-Jazeera Net)

Strategic importance

Umm Qasr is the main port and one of the most important commercial ports in Iraq, as more than 70% of Iraq's foreign trade passes through it. Therefore, it is an important vital artery, says economist and academic Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Mashhadani.

He explained to Al-Jazeera Net that the Iraqi economy depends a lot on foreign trade to finance its commodity needs with all its food, industrial, intermediate and equipment items that are imported through Umm Qasr, indicating that the port is the most important trade route in Iraq because other roads are fraught with risks.

Al-Mashhadani points out that the port is one of the important sources of financing, as it achieves financial revenues of more than 1.5 billion dinars per day (equivalent to 1.02 million dollars per day) in addition to providing thousands of job opportunities, and can contribute to alleviating the unemployment problem in the south of the country.

The Ministry of Transport divided the port into north and south because of its large area and the breadth of its activity (Al-Jazeera Net)

On the carrying capacity, the economist says that the port is divided into 3 regions, the northern, central and southern, and its capacity is very large, but attention is now turning to the port of Faw, which Iraq seeks to achieve, which has a capacity of one million containers, and if its construction is completed, it is planned to be one of the transit ports in the direction of The Mediterranean and Europe, while Umm Qasr will remain one of the local ports.

Al-Mashhadani believes that Umm Qasr port will maintain a strategic importance for Iraq in the coming years due to the reluctance to accomplish the "Faw", which, if completed with its full capacity, "Umm Qasr" will be one of the secondary ports and its mission will be to receive only small vessels such as Abu Flus and other Iraqi ports on the Shatt al-Arab.

Abdel-Saheb considered that the wars and crises in Iraq have hindered the development of Umm Qasr port (Al-Jazeera Net)

Stations and Wars

The commercial movement in the port of Umm Qasr began in 1974 and began to increase after the increase in Iraq's oil revenues, especially after 1975 due to high oil prices.

The major development plans that were imposed on the government at that time to expand the port of Umm Qasr, according to Dr. Ahmed Saddam Abdel-Saheb, a researcher specializing in trade and transport affairs.

He adds to Al-Jazeera Net: In 1976 there were only 3 berths to receive goods at the port, and the movement did not exceed 10% of the amount of exports through the port of Maqal (one of the oldest Iraqi ports, established in 1916 in the Shatt al-Arab) and expansion operations took place in “Umm Qasr.” Until it had 18 berths in 1978, most of which were for general cargo, and by the end of 1979, 3 more berths were added, and then the war with Iran began, causing the port's developments to be halted.

Among the most prominent stations witnessed by "Umm Qasr" was the Iran-Iraq war between 1980 and 1988 - according to Abdul-Saheb - then the war of Iraqi forces' invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990s, and then the conditions of the economic blockade on the country, which stopped the port completely.

He indicates that the port resumed its activities in 1997 following the memorandum of understanding issued by the United Nations towards Iraq, which allowed it to import food and medicine, but at a specific level, and its activity continued at a relatively good level until 2002.

In 1996 the cargo handled at the port was 330 thousand and 419 tons, and after the memorandum of understanding in 1997 it increased to 3 million 172 thousand and 502 tons, and the number of ships increased from 26 ships entering the year 1996 to 222 in 1997, after which the port's movement increased until 2002, when the amount of cargo reached 6 million and 83 thousand and 129 tons, and the number of ships reached 512 of different sizes, according to Abdel-Saheb.

He continues that in 2003 the US invasion of Iraq began, and fierce battles took place in the port and it became more like a military barracks when the American and coalition forces took control of it, and it was the main gate to occupy the city of Basra.

Al-Fartousi considered that the port is in a state of continuous recovery and that plans to develop it are moving for the better (communication sites)

His conditions today

Port matters are in a state of continuous recovery, and plans for port management and state administration are moving towards the better, with a new strategy for partnership with the private sector and openness to it, and revenues have started to rise since 2015, according to the General Director of the Iraqi Ports Company, Farhan Muheisen Al-Fartousi.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he stressed that the General Company for Ports of Iraq is the only authority that extends its authority over the country's ports with the help of the supporting authorities to regulate the work of the ports, both the security and health regulatory authorities.

Al-Fartousi denied the existence of any corruption or royalties in the ports, and considered talking about that a kind of political and economic projection, as he put it.

It reveals plans to expand commercial work and supplement the state budget, as 3 berths will enter the port of Umm Qasr this year, and there is a tendency to build 4 to 6 new berths, and this indicates the increase in the volume of trade exchange expected in the future, especially after the recovery from the Corona pandemic, which is hoped to lead To global economic recovery.