Dubai-to-Iraq feeder activity resumes

Dubai-to-Iraq feeder activity resumes    The first shipment of aid cargo aboard a feeder vessel destined for the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr since the end of the war in Iraq has left Dubai ports authority.
   The Dubai ports authority reported that the first shipment was aboard the vessel “Sima Kija,” operated by Simatech Shipping, and consisted of 121 forty-foot equivalent units of empty gas cylinders. The cylinders are destined for Baghdad, for use by the local community.
   In Umm Qasr, the U.S. port operators SSA Marine will handle the shipment.
Due to current equipment restrictions in Umm Qasr, the vessel will use its own cranes to off-load the cargo, until the gantry cranes in the Iraqi port are fully powered and operational, according to the Dubai port authority.
   “The shipment reflects the increasing pace of normalcy in the resumption of shipping services to that country, and Umm Qasr’s resuming capability to handle container vessels,” the port authority said.
   Feeder operators and carriers that regularly provided services between Dubai and Umm Qasr had suspended their operations because of the war. Prior to the conflict, about 3,000 TEUs per month were moving to Umm Qasr via Dubai as part of aid programs.
   Within the United Arab Emirates, over 2,300 containers of Iraqi-bound cargo are awaiting clearance for shipments by feeder into Umm Qasr.
   In another significant move the local ferry service between Dubai and Umm Qasr has also resumed services.