|By TAP Staff| Dubai-headquartered Transworld Group and NAWAH announced entering into a formal agreement to service Iraq’s growing demand for imports, linking their shipping, logistics, marine services and port capabilities.
As part of their agreement, Transworld Group and NAWAH Port Management will team up to increase the flow of essential goods coming from the broader Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Far East and Southeast Asia into the historic Port of Basra with seamless linkage to commercial centers throughout Iraq.
“Iraq stands at such an important moment of time – historically and commercially – and we are keen to play a part in this phase of growth,” said Ritesh S Ramakrishnan, Transworld Group’s director of strategy and business planning.
“The sheer scale and magnitude of development occurring today in Iraq, along with a growing middle class, requires logistical flows of epic proportions. Aligning with NAWAH provides Transworld Group with first-class logistics solutions and unrivaled port operations in Basra and one of the most reliable door-to-door capabilities in Iraq,”explained Mr. Ramakrishnan.
Transworld Group, established in 1976, brings nearly 40 years of expertise in integrated shipping, logistics, multi-modal transport and marine services. The group owns and operates a fleet of 30 vessels and has offices at all major ports in the UAE as well as other Arabian Gulf countries. The company also has significant presence in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United States.
NAWAH Port Management (NPM) operates the first modernized, containerized terminal in the Port of Basra (also known as Al Maqal Port), located in downtown Basra along the banks of the Shatt Al Arab waterway. Along with sister company NAWAH Supply & Distribution, NPM offers customers a full spectrum of door-to-door, supply-chain capabilities for cargo being transshipped into UAE’s mammoth Jebel Ali Port and bound for Iraq’s oil and gas fields and commercial markets.
“Together with Transworld Group’s four decades of shipping experience and NAWAH’s in-depth knowledge and operational capabilities within Iraq, we are confident that we will redefine logistics in the Middle East,” said Nicholas Kunesh, NAWAH Port Management’s president and CEO. “Through our combined expertise, market reach, state-of-the-art technology and customer-focused shipping and logistics services, we will enable Basra to continue its accelerated march to becoming a key strategic trading center in the Middle East, bridging East and West.”
Transworld Group and NAWAH have already initiated joint cargo movement from Jebel Ali Port to NPM’s Port of Basra terminal with containers from Transworld Group’s Balaji Shipping Lines transiting via NPM’s feeder vessel service into southern Iraq. Containerized and refrigerated cargo volume is forecasted to grow substantially in the next six months.