Iraq opens Middle East’s first immersed tunnel at Grand Faw Port

Shafaq News – Basra

Iraq has opened the immersed tunnel at the Grand Faw Port project after completing the lowering of its 10th concrete section, the state-run General Company for Ports said on Saturday.

The tunnel is designed to link the Grand Faw Port with the international highway network toward Basra and is the first project of its kind in the Middle East, according to the company.

Director General Farhan Al-Fartousi told Shafaq News that installing the 10th section brought the tunnel’s total length to 2,192 meters. Specialist international firms carried out the work using “advanced engineering techniques”, he explained, describing the tunnel as a “strategic” component that provides direct access between the port and Iraq’s road network.

To support operational safety, Al-Fartousi said the contractor installed an advanced ventilation system between the Umm Qasr and Faw corridors. The system operates automatically to ensure continuous airflow and activates an emergency mode during incidents to control smoke and enable rapid evacuation.

According to the Grand Faw Port’s official project site, the tunnel forms an underwater crossing beneath the Khor Al-Zubair channel using immersed segment technology and is part of wider plans to expand Iraq’s port infrastructure and logistics capacity.