At the request of the Coalition Provision Authority (CPA), USAID has extended SSA Marine's existing contract for the management of the port of Umm Qasr, Iraq until 30 June 2004. The original contract had been due to expire on 22 March. No additional government funds will be required, with funds still remaining from the original contract.
SSA Marine has been managing the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr since the transfer of control from the UK military on 23 May 2003 and was awarded the contract following a highly competitive international bidding process. Cargo handling operations include humanitarian aid, reconstruction and commercial cargo. SSA Marine also supervised the current regularly scheduled ferry service between Iraq and Dubai. Since last year, a group of 12 SSA Marine operations experts have managed the daily operations and security at the facility, while over 300 vessels, 1.2 million metric tons of cargo and more than 8,000 ferry passengers have called at the port.
Bob Watters, vice president of SSA Marine, who is overseeing the project, acknowledged that "the past year has been quite rewarding in helping facilitate the movement of humanitarian and reconstruction cargo to the people of Iraq. USAID and the CPA have provided great leadership in the effort to rebuild the country's infrastructure. This contract extension is testament to the value we are adding to that effort. The success of this operation is a credit to our excellent team at Umm Qasr, the Iraqi workforce employed by the Iraq Port Authority (IPA), USAID, CPA and the other government entities working to make this project a success."
Source: Business Wire
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