This initiative follows Gulftainer’s establishment of Iraq’s first modern container terminal at Umm Qasr in 2009—17 years ago—and marks a strategic expansion of the company’s role as an integrated trade and logistics enabler in Iraq.

The new service connects Umm Qasr to key UAE gateway ports—including Jebel Ali and Khalifa—and facilitates onward connectivity to regional and global logistics hubs. It leverages GT Lines’ owned vessel capacity in coordination with Iraq Commercial Terminal (ICT) and the Umm Qasr Logistics Centre (UQLC), thereby establishing a vertically integrated maritime and inland logistics ecosystem.

Located adjacent to ICT, the UQLC offers comprehensive value-added services, including bonded warehousing, container storage and rehandling, cargo consolidation and deconsolidation, customs clearance support, and logistics documentation assistance. These capabilities enhance end-to-end cargo visibility, reduce dwell times, and strengthen supply chain resilience for Iraqi importers and exporters accessing markets across East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, Africa, and the broader Middle East.

Gulftainer currently deploys a fleet of 10 vessels serving ports across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Iraq, India, Pakistan, China, and Southeast Asia.

The company characterises the UAE–Umm Qasr corridor not merely as a new shipping route, but as a strategic trade gateway—designed to deliver operational certainty, schedule reliability, and scalable infrastructure to support Iraq’s economic diversification and the sustained growth of non-oil trade volumes.

Farid Belbouab, Group Chief Executive Officer of Gulftainer, underscored that this service reflects a long-term commitment to Iraq’s emergence as a pivotal logistics nexus bridging the Gulf, the Levant, and Asia—a vision rooted in the company’s foundational investment in modernising Iraq’s port infrastructure nearly two decades ago.

Resource.: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/qkpsArq54msv8067yQf8bA