Infra investments pay off as ICTSI’s Iraq port handles record-sized cargo vessel

ICTSI’s infrastructure investments at the Port of Umm Qasr in Iraq are yielding dividends with the recent docking of the largest container vessel ever handled at the Basra Gateway Terminal (BGT), the firm owned by billionaire Enrique Razon Jr. said.

Key highlights:

• HMM Daon is the largest vessel to call at Umm Qasr, with 16,010 TEU capacity.
• ICTSI’s Basra Gateway Terminal is the only terminal in Iraq able to handle such vessels.
• Investment in post-Panamax cranes and infrastructure enabled the milestone.
• BGT has six berths and supports container, general, project, and RORO cargo.
• ICTSI signed the port management contract with Iraq in 2014.

Basra Gateway Terminal, the Iraq operation of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), successfully handled the HMM Daon, a vessel with a capacity of 16,010 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the company said in a statement on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.

The vessel, which is 365.16 meters long and 51 meters wide, arrived at the terminal on March 19. It is part of the Premiere Alliance, a consortium comprising HMM, Yang Ming, and Ocean Network Express that services trade routes from China and the Far East.

ICTSI attributed the terminal’s capability to handle ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) to sustained capital investments. These include the installation of three post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes and continuous upgrades to terminal infrastructure and technology.

BGT is currently the only facility at Umm Qasr capable of managing vessels of this size. The terminal features six berths and handles a mix of container, general, project, and roll-on/roll-off (RORO) cargo. Its modernization is part of ICTSI’s long-term concession agreement signed in 2014 with the General Company for Ports of Iraq.

The successful handling of HMM Daon not only reinforces BGT’s operational capability but also highlights its role in supporting Iraq’s international trade and economic recovery, ICTSI said.

— Edited by Daxim L. Lucas