Solicitation Number: W912ER-13-R-0050

Agency: Department of the Army

Office: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Location: USACE Middle East District

Solicitation Number: W912ER-13-R-0050

Notice Type: Presolicitation

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (USACE) Middle East District intends to solicit names of construction firms experienced in working in the Middle East region who are interested in submitting a firm-fixed price offer for this project.

PROJECT SCOPE: This project includes the following elements:

a. Design and construct a floating pier, approximately 165m in length, for berthing of vessels with draft of up to 6 meters. This new pier will connect to an existing fixed concrete pier by means of a new ramp or gangway that is included in this design-build contract. The proposed pier will include utility connections to existing or future infrastructure to include electrical shore power connections, compressed air, fresh (non-potable) water, fuel lines and lighting.

b. Design and construct supporting facilities for the floating pier. These Supporting facilities include electrical, water and fuel infrastructure, transformers, site work, a paved road connecting the pier to existing road infrastructure and drainage.

c. Design and execute an initial dredging operation from the boundary of the commercial port to the southern border of Iraq as shown in the attached figure. The approximate dredging area is 300,000 square meters and the approximate volume of dredged material to be removed is 900,000 cubic meters, including a 1.0 meter overdredge tolerance. The contractor will construct a dredged materials disposal area in an authorized location adjacent to the dredging area. The contractor will provide a dredged material disposal system that allows for dredging operations with no interruption of navigational traffic in the existing nearby channels.

d. For one entire year, after the initial dredging is complete, the contractor will provide maintenance dredging to maintain the required design depth. The contractor will prepare and provide an engineered maintenance dredging plan and schedule which satisfies the maintenance dredging requirements.

As part of the design effort, the contractor must prepare a detailed project site conditions report. This report shall include the results of several studies and investigations of the project area, including (but not limited to) geotechnical studies, navigational studies, a hydrographic survey and a bathymetric survey.

The anticipated period of performance is 365 calendar days for the Project. A firm fixed price contract will be awarded to a prime construction contractor. The magnitude of the project is between $10,000,000 and $25,000,000.

By John Lee.

The Basra Investment Commission has licensed a cement factory in Umm Qasr, according to a report from Aswat al-Iraq.

The $26-million project will have a production capacity of 3,000 tons of cement per day.

(Source: Aswat al-Iraq)

By John Lee.

VSE Corporation has reported that its International Group has received a $37.6-million order to provide engineering and training services to the Iraqi Navy in Umm Qasr.

The delivery order is for the continuation of work performed under its Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Naval Ship Transfer and Repair (N*STAR) contract through the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) International Fleet Support Program.

Under this delivery order VSE will provide engineering and training services in support of the Iraqi Navy in Umm Qasr over a three-year period. Services will include repair and maintenance training for various classes of ships and patrol boats supporting Iraqi naval security.

“VSE and our entire N*STAR Team are proud to continue our FMS work for the US Navy and our allies,” said International Group President Harry Flammang (pictured). “We are very pleased the Government of Iraq has made the decision to continue this highly successful program. We appreciate seeing our work recognized for the benefit it brings to our client navies, especially in the increased operational availability of their ships.”

Maersk Line has opened a new branch in the port of Umm Qasr, in the Basrah region of Iraq.

Until very recently Iraq was seen as being too dangerous for Maersk Line to risk opening an office. Thankfully conditions are changing, and Maersk Line is determined to do its bit to both capture business for itself and facilitate growth in the local economy.

• Maersk Line in Iraq has a dedicated feeder, 80% reliability, fixed berthing, and unmatched (expandable) reefer capacity

• Maersk Line aims to ride the economic growth in Iraq and promote our competitive products and services

Positioning itself in a high growth market, Maersk Line opened a branch office in Iraq in January 2012. This strengthened its sales presence in a region where the value of goods and services produced is expected to grow by 8.6% this year. Maersk Line is currently the fifth biggest player in Iraq, having doubled its market share this year to between 10% and 12%.

Maersk Line’s new branch is in the port of Umm Qasr, in the Basrah region of Iraq. The port is central to trade in Iraq, with containers arriving from all over the world. Iraq is still not an easy place to do business, and there are still the inherent risks of working in a new and delicate democracy. Ayad Sultan, the first external sales representative, admits this risk is the main challenge of working in Iraq in general and that Umm Qasr is “no exception.”

Setting up an office in Umm Qasr will provide a dedicated team on the ground so customers in and out of Iraq will feel more secure in knowing they have a business partner they can highly depend on.

Providing back office support, third-party agent Inchcape Shipping Services in Umm Qasr will handle documentation and cash services to Maersk Line customers.

There was a slight rise in the number of attacks recorded in Iraq last week but the overall number of casualties fell from the previous week. At least 26 people were killed and 62 injured in nationwide incidents. A total of 31 bomb attacks left 11 people dead and 57 injured while small arms fire left 10 people dead and five injured. One person was kidnapped in Kirkuk, while a captive woman was freed in a police operation in Umm Qasr. The bodies of several more people were found abandoned in various other parts of the country.

North
Mosul remained one of the most violent parts of the country last week. Ta’mim province saw far fewer incidents, although a mechanic was kidnapped in the province and security was heightened in Kirkuk ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Maliki. In the normally secure region of Kurdistan there were two points of note. A personal dispute between two civilians escalated into a gunfight in Arbil, which left one person dead and the other injured. The region sees very little violence, but there is a high distribution of firearms and related incidents are still relatively common. A protest also took place in Arbil on 8 May following the publication of an article by a local paper deemed offensive to Islam by many local residents. Protesters clashed with the security forces, although there were no significant casualties reported.

Weekly Attacks in Iraq - the last 6 months

Central
Apart from Mosul, last week’s violence in Iraq was concentrated in and around Baghdad, Fallujah, Ba’qubah and Tuz Khurmatu.  Salah ad-Din province is currently seeing the majority of attacks, although conditions slightly worsened in the capital last week as well. Anbar and Diyala province remain relatively equal in terms of violence, although tensions appear to be on the rise in Diyala in particular, with local residents concerned at gradually rising militancy and localised tensions.

South
There was a spate of small bomb attacks in southern cities last week. They have not caused any casualties but appear to have been aimed at intimidating political figures rather than killing members of the security forces or civilians indiscriminately. While the region is far quieter than central and northern parts of the country it evidently still hosts violent militant organisations with the intent and means to use violence for political purposes. While casualties remain highly infrequent this recent trend does not bode well for the longer term outlook for the oil-rich region.

John Drake is a senior risk consultant with AKE, a British risk mitigation company working in Iraq since 2003. You can access AKE’s intelligence website Global Intake here, and you can obtain a free trial of AKE’s Iraq intelligence reports here.

In addition to the Iraq Container Terminal in Umm Qasr port, Basrah Province, the Gulftainer Group is fully engaged in Iraq aiming to provide the port, transport and logistics links so necessary to assist in efcient redevelopment – all the way from Zakho in the North (on the Turkish border) to Umm Qasr in the South. The company currently has people and operations on the ground in both locations, was well as others in between, such as Erbil and Basrah.

Gulftainer are operating Berth 8 at Umm Qasr Port (South). With the terminal having proudly handled its rst container vessel in August 2010, the facility has now developed into a fully operational container terminal with full investment in assets such as mobile harbour cranes, container handling equipment and paved, secure, storage areas.

Please click here to download a presentation on Gulftainer’s Iraq operations.

CNN has produced a new video report on the development of Kufan Group‘s Basra Logistics City, which occupies the site of the former Camp Bucca [Boca] near Umm Qasr.

(Source: CNN)

Iraq Business News has just received photographs of the two new ship-to-shore cranes arriving at Gulftainer‘s Iraq Container Terminal at Umm Qasr.

They are now located on their rails on the quayside, and will commence operations within days, making these the only berths operating 24/7, allowing secure, safe and speedy handling of Tenaris pipes.

Another two cranes are scheduled to join them shortly.