Download The Document

• 1. Logistics Co-ordination Forum: Amman
• 2. Transport Corridors
• Ferry Services
• Capacity and Traffic Estimates
• Operations, Contacts and Prospects
• 3. Aviation
• Overview
• 4. Immigration
• Iraqi Visas
• Kuwaiti Visas
• 5. Fuels
• Fuel Availability
• Imports
• Sabotage, Smuggling and Border Control

1. Logistics Co-ordination Forum: Amman

UNJLC will convene the second session of the a Logistics Co-ordination Forum in Amman in late September or early October, building on the first session in late August.

The forum groups those responsible for logistics matters in the respective UN agencies and international organisations in an informal setting, allowing participants to share information and perspectives on moving humanitarian aid and other goods into Iraq so that common approaches, if appropriate, may be explored.

Individuals interested in attending the second session, including logistics officers from major NGO's, may contact pall.hermannsson@wfp.org.

2. Transport Corridors

In this section of the current bulletin, UNJLC will focus on the availability of ferry services into Iraq.

The Southern corridor (generally via Umm Qasr) was covered in UNJLC Bulletin 6 of August 25th, 2004; the Turkish corridor in UNJLC Bulletin 5 (August 13th, 2004), the Syrian corridor in UNJLC Bulletin 3 of 2004 (July 16th, 2004); Jordan in Bulletin 2 (July 2nd). Umm Qasr, as part of the southern corridor, was more fully addressed in Bulletin 1 (June 18th). UNJLC will cover routes from Iran and Saudi Arabia, mainly as contingencies, in future bulletins. Neither route is used extensively at present but persons or organisations may request detailed information by contacting pall.hermannsson@wfp.org for Iran and john.levins@wfp.org for Saudi Arabia.

Ferry Services

Most of the focus on access into Iraq for individuals has been on air and land routes. For cargo, including humanitarian aid, the focus is on overland routes from Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Kuwait, or through major container or breakbulk vessels calling at Umm Qasr or other southern ports. However, ferry services through the Arabian Gulf to Iraq from the United Arab Emirates have long provided reliable and economical services for both passengers and suitable cargo, including vehicles.

A ferry with passenger and cargo capacity also operates from Kuwait to Abadan, an Iranian port on the Iraqi border, but details are not immediately available.

Capacity and Traffic Estimates

Passenger ferries available on the route at present, in addition to a dedicated cargo ferry, Jebel Ali 4, are as follows:

 An indication of the traffic, based on calls, embarkations and debarkations at Dubai Ports Authority's three ports is as follows:

It is clear that although there are less ferry trips in 2004 compared to the earliest pre-war year of 2002 (with 2003 suffering from disruption for several months), the ferries are being more heavily utilised. However, there still seems to be a great deal of unused capacity, at least for passengers. Each ferry does one round trip per week with a transit time from the UAE of about 40 hours. Thus, there is a weekly capacity on the route of about 3,800 passengers. With an average of about 600 passengers per week each way for the first seven months of 2004, utilisation is very low. The ferry operators appear to be relying on freight business to maintain the service.

Operations, Contacts and Prospects

The more established ferry operator is Dubai's Naif Marine Services, running the cargo ferry and the two Jebal Ali passenger ferries.  They have their own terminal operation in Umm Qasr and do not need pilots. This is an advantage as they may berth without delay from pilots. The other operator, of Merdif-2 is Marco Shipping LLC.

Contact details are as follows:

The passengers using the ferries are mainly members of the large Iraqi expatriate community in the UAE, particularly those who fled the previous regime. Iraqi traders visiting Dubai to source products from the local market or from regional distribution centres such as the Jebel Ali Free Zone are also an important part of the business.

The merchandise purchased by these traders is often carried as cargo on the ferries or booked on one of the smaller vessels plying the waters between the port of Hamriya in Dubai, or other smaller ports of the Emirates, to Abu Floos. The freight rates are lower than on the containerships which frequently have their capacity reduced and schedule disrupted (this adding significantly to costs) by the ongoing inspection-at-sea regime (see UNJLC Bulletin 2).

Owing to the higher costs and lower level of flexibility in Umm Qasr, the cargo ferry now appears to be using the small Iraqi Shatt Al-Arab port of Abu Floos in preference to Umm Qasr. The operators do not have this option for passenger ferries as the immigration facilities are in Umm Qasr, not in Abu Floos.

These vessels would be able to carry suitable humanitarian aid into Iraq at rates competitive with other forms of marine transport.

To date, the ferry services have been used mainly by Iraqi nationals - both those living in Iraq and those expatriates still carrying Iraqi travel documents - but there is no limitation on the nationalities of passengers. However, with the current situation on the visa requirements for entering Iraq (see section 4, overleaf), non-Iraqi nationals generally need a valid visa before being allowed to board the ferries.

The Dubai government is said to be establishing a centre for Iraqi entrepreneurs where they can set up companies with the same ease that other foreigners can in the various UAE free zones. The threshold has been lowered compared to these other free zones, offer office space for significantly less cost to encourage UAE-Iraq trade. This is expected to increase both the passenger and traffic between UAE and Iraq both in terms of passengers as well as goods.

3. Aviation

Overview

Capacity for both cargo and passengers into Iraq is improving month by month. In addition to two small aircraft (a Beechcraft and Kingair) operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross from Amman into Iraq, the following regular services have been identified:

Iraqi Airways is expected to resume services from Baghdad to Amman and to Damascus this month using a newly-acquired Boeing 737.

Further details of services by Royal Jordanian, Air Serv International and SkyLink are available in UNLC Bulletin 4 of 30th July 2004 and Bulletin 5 of 13th August 2004. Details on the services provided by DHL and contact points are available in UNJLC Bulletin 6 of 27th August 2004. Contact details for another operator who may have flights available from Amman, Jordan Aviation, are also available in UNJLC Bulletin 6.  SkyLink continues, as far as we have been able to ascertain, to be the only operator providing commercial services from Kuwait into Iraq.

None of the services noted above have adequate countermeasures satisfactory to UN security authorities. UN personnel may not use these services. NGO's with differing security requirements may be able to use these services, depending on eligibility in the case of Air Serv.

UN Humanitarian Air Services (UNHAS) operations, based out of Amman, remain temporarily suspended but with the possibility of resuming service from early November if a suitable aircraft is made available.

4. Immigration

Iraqi Visas

Further to advice in UNJLC Bulletin 6 that the need for visas to enter Iraq has emerged as a concern for humanitarian workers, UNJLC has been advised by Iraqi consular officials that in addition to Iraqi embassies in Amman, Ankara, Beirut, Cairo and Damascus, the respective embassies in Abu Dhabi, Manama, Paris and Teheran are authorised to issue Iraqi visas. The Iraqi Consulate in Dubai may soon be added to this list. Iraqi Embassies are not yet open in Kuwait or Riyadh.

Contact telephone numbers for these missions, as obtained from Iraqi consular officials, are:

It is understood that the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs may have transferred responsibility for visas to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of Interior in turn may have simplified the procedure for NGO's and International Organisations as an interim measure, whereby visas will be issued gratis at the point of entry (either land borders, ports or airports) based on a passport valid for at least six months and a letter in duplicate from the applicant's organisation. This letter should have complete information about the applicant (including date and place of birth, gender, passport number, issue date, place of issue and expiry date, permanent place of residence), their organization, the location and nature of their work in Iraq, contact details of the individual's organization in Iraq, and the expected duration of the stay in Iraq. It is not yet clear whether the letter needs to be in Arabic (although this is advisable) but it is wise to carry several copies, all signed in the original and printed on the organisation's letterhead.

The length of validity of the visa is unclear, as is the need (or otherwise) for an exit visa. Experience has shown that once an individual has entered Iraq, there seems to be little or no attention to whether they have a valid visa or not. The only problems may arise on attempted exit but we are unaware of any non-Iraqi individuals being ultimately prevented from leaving the country to date.

UNJLC is endeavouring to verify the applicability of these possibly new arrangements with Iraqi consular authorities. At all times, persons wishing to enter Iraq are advised to verify prevailing requirements with the Iraqi authorities.

It is understood that the Interim Iraqi Government and the US Government have agreed on an interim procedure for entry visas for individuals working on a US contract, including sub-contractors to a primary contractor, regardless of the individual's nationality, pending finalisation of permanent immigration procedures. Further information on this may be obtained from BaghdadWaiver@state.gov. This facility does not apply to humanitarian workers not engaged on US contracts as it requires close co-ordination with the US Embassy in Baghdad, and the issue of letters from the embassy.

Readers with further information on the visa situation in Iraq, or experiences that may assist other people trying to enter or exit Iraq are invited to contact omar.alshikh@wfp.org or john.levins@wfp.org.

The application form for Iraqi visas is available from the respective Iraqi Embassies listed above, or electronically at www.unjlc.org/content/index.phtml/itemId/21894. If using the downloaded version, the two pages of which it comprises should be photocopied back-to-back before completion so that it is on a single sheet of paper, similar to the forms available from the embassies.

Kuwaiti Visas

With the shift of many UN and NGO staff to Kuwait in view of concerns arising from excessive concentration of staff in other regional locations, Kuwait is becoming a more important base for humanitarian staff.

The Kuwaiti authorities are generally accommodating of UN and humanitarian workers. However, historically, all visitors, of whatever nationality (with the exception of nationals from the other five Gulf Co-operation Council States of Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), required a visa to be arranged for them prior to their entry to Kuwait, either by a local sponsor or a hotel. This was often onerous if people did not have a multiple-entry visa and had to leave Kuwait for only a day or so: a new visa could not be issued until they had departed on the old one, and it could take several days to arrange a new visa.

From this year, the Kuwaiti authorities have issued a list of 34 nationalities who can enter Kuwait by purchasing a visa at the airport or land border point, as is the practice in several other regional countries. The cost is three Kuwaiti Dinars (about US$10), payable in Kuwaiti Dinars.

Nationals of the following countries are eligible for this privilege:

Nationals of all other countries (apart from GCC citizens), must still have visas arranged in advance, or have residence visas in Kuwait.

UNJLC is investigating the possibility of how Kuwait residence visas (thus dispensing with the need for visit visas) may be obtained for humanitarian workers, including UN staff, who may be posted to Kuwait for at least six months.  This will allow easy exit and entry and, amongst other benefits, access to Government health care, and for dependents to be sponsored and children to be schooled in Kuwait.
 

5. Fuels

Fuel Availability

A general shortage of fuels has become apparent throughout the country in recent weeks, even in the northern governorates of Sulaymania and Kirkuk where supplies have historically been stable. This is a reversal of the situation that existed for August and seems to be a direct result of pipeline sabotage holding back both refining production and effectiveness of distribution, combined with an increased reluctance on the part of Turkish fuel tanker drivers to service Iraq for fear of being killed or kidnapped.

The conflict areas of Najaf, Anbar (including the towns of Falluja and Ramadi), Diyala (Baqouba) and Salahedeen (Tikrit and Sammara) have seen much more acute shortages as few tanker drivers are prepared to service them and cordons are in place around several of the towns.

The situation in Najaf appears to be the direst of all. Most fuel stations closed and fuel can only be found in the black market. Matters have improved since the ceasefire and supplies are reaching the city but the situation remains extremely fragile. A slight disruption to supplies could create a shortage as panic buying sets in. The situation in Anbar and Diyala is similar.

Shortages persist in the major cities of Baghdad and Basra. Baghdad's large population, much of it relatively affluent compared to other parts of the country, and the expectation of subsidised fuels creates a demand that can never be fully met. The minimum queuing time at a petrol station in Baghdad is 30 minutes, with waits up to 90 minutes not uncommon.

The situation in Basra seems to be greatly exacerbated by smuggling to Iran (where there is also a huge gasoline shortage owing to Iranian refineries being unable to cope with the burgeoning local demand ) and by sea.

On the positive side, the situation on Highway 10 from Jordan, the main supply route into Iraq, is generally good. Supplies are adequate with fuel available at the main rest stops such as Al-Mafrag, seventy kilometres from the border, and Kilometre 160 at an expensive price of ID120, compared to the official price of ID10 for diesel and ID20 for gasoline. (US$1 is about ID1460).

Imports

During August, Iraq's own State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO, an arm of the Ministry of Oil), assumed control over all fuels imports from the US Defence Energy Support Center, which had been administering much of the imports. It remains to be seen whether SOMO will be able to manage this huge task successfully, especially with the need to import large amounts of kerosene for the seasonal winter peak consumption.

Fuel imports are continuing from Jordan, but under military escort. Most the Iraq's civilian fuel imports seem to be brought in from Turkey. It is unclear if or when imports from Saudi Arabia will resume.

The public is also complaining about the quality of the locally produced fuel compared to the much higher quality of imported fuel. With many relatively modern imported second-hand cars on the road (and many news cars), requiring good fuel, this is now an issue in major cities.

Sabotage, Smuggling and Border Control

Recent sabotage to the main crude pipelines feeding the Daura refinery in Baghdad has forced the refinery to cut production to about 50% of its usual 100,000 barrel per day capacity.

All types of pipelines are being attacked, from strategic crude export pipelines and crude oil pipelines to refineries, to lines feeding power stations with crude oil or heavy fuel oil, to refined product and gas pipelines.

The sabotage is also affecting the ability of power stations to function, thus increasing reliance on neighbourhood and household generators, and in turn increasing demand for diesel and gasoline in a vicious cycle.

It is clear that smuggling, particularly through land borders to the north, west and east, is continuing on both a small scale (extra 150 to 200 litres tanks in the boots of hundreds of cars crossing into Jordan and Turkey) and a larger scale (with trucks). It is particularly curious that Iraq is importing fuels from both of these countries at market prices, selling that fuel in Iraq at subsidised prices, and then that fuel is being smuggled out to its countries of origin, perhaps to be sold back to Iraq at market prices. This is clearly having an adverse effect on the Iraqi balance of payments and economy - thus diverting funds from much needed development and security projects - but the interim government appears either unable or unwilling (perhaps because in an economy with so little employment, this provides a livelihood for many people) to deal with the issue.

Significantly, it is understood that recruitment and training of the Coastal Defence Force is proceeding well, perhaps the best of all the Iraqi security forces. Of the authorised strength of about 480, all required personnel have been recruited and over 70% have been trained and assigned to duty. The remainder are still under training. When fully deployed, this force should be able to reduce the smuggling of fuel by sea.

On the land borders, however, only about half of the authorised strength for the Department of Border Enforcement of 32,000 has been recruited and assigned duties. The requirements for vehicles, weapons, communications and other vital equipment have not been met in any large measure, with an estimated 80% shortfall. Land border control is still largely ineffective, especially away from major crossing points.

The poor conditions and pay of Iraqi border personnel, the opportunity for enrichment through petty corruption and a general lack of commitment all contribute to the pervasive atmosphere that not only allows smuggling of fuel products, but encourages it.