Due to a nationwide protest in Iraq that began on Friday 25 October, all terminals are closed and have ceased operations as advised by the authorities.
Currently, port operations in Umm Qasr, Iraq are closed, there is no cargo delivery process and all ships are staying at the port without operation. No further ships are allowed to enter Umm Qasr temporarily.
The local Government at Basra also announced that Sunday 27 October was a holiday on occasion of the anniversary of death of Prophet Mohammed.
On Monday, 28 October, terminal operations started in the first part of the day but, were stopped at 1600 hours when protests restarted. Since then, terminal operations are fully stopped with ships waiting at the berth and anchorage.
Owing to this unfortunate situation out of our control, we may have to look at alternatives to discharge Umm Qasr cargo.
Any and all costs incurred due to the port closure will be for the account of the cargo and Hapag-Lloyd reserves the right to recover any additional cost incurred.
We regret the inconvenience caused by these uncontrollable events and we will keep you advised with any changes.
For further questions, the teams in our Basra, Iraq office can be contacted here.