Mubarak Al Kabeer Port

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port
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Native name	ميناء مبارك الكبير
Location
Country	Kuwait
Location	Bubiyan Island
Coordinates	29.865°N 48.318°E / 29.865; 48.318
Details
Opened	August 2021 (Phase I)[1], Expected final completion by December 2024[2]
Owned by	China[3][4]  Kuwait[3][4]

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is a port in Bubiyan Island, Kuwait. The port is currently under construction.^[1][5][6][2] In April 2021, the port's first phase was completed (4 berths).^[2] The port is part of the Belt and Road Initiative.^[3][4]

Purpose

Main article: Madinat al-Hareer

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is part of China's Belt and Road Initiative.^[3][4] Under China's Belt and Road Initiative, the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is part of the first phase of the Silk City project.^[3][4] The port is an essential part of Kuwait Vision 2035 as it will create many new job opportunities in Kuwait.^[4] Mubarak Al Kabeer Port will serve the economic interests of many countries including Kuwait, China, Iraq, and Iran. In addition, the port is one of the closest seaports to Central Asia.

As of 2021, Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is currently under construction.^[5][1][6][2] According to MEED, the project's contract was awarded in November 2019.^[7] The port is set to be environmentally sustainable.^[8][9] In September 2020, it was reported that the port is 53% complete.^[10] In March 2021, it was announced that Kuwait and Pakistan will develop linkages between Gwadar Port and Mubarak Al Kabeer Port.^[11][12]

In April 2021, the port's first phase was completed (4 berths).^[2] As part of Mubarak Al Kabeer Port's development, Bubiyan Island will contain power plants and substations.^{[9][5][13][14]} A 5,000-megawatt power plant has already been built in Subiya.^[15] There is a current road project connecting Mubarak Al Kabeer Port's first phase to the existing road network in Bubiyan Island.^[16][2] Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is among Kuwait's largest infrastructure projects in 2021.^[17][18] Mubarak Al Kabeer Port's fire stations are currently under development.^[19]

Mubarak Al Kabeer Port is part of the Gulf Railway project in Kuwait.^[20]

Foreign relations

See also: Iraq–Kuwait relations

The port entails developing mutually beneficial economic ties with Iraq.^[21] In early 2011, the port caused tensions in Iraq due to its proximity to Grand Faw Port. In September 2011, Iraq's foreign minister announced that the dispute over Mubarak Al Kabeer Port has been resolved.^[22]

In August 2019, Iraq sent a protest letter against Kuwait to the United Nations regarding the maritime area that lies beyond marker 162 in Khor Abdullah by upraising a shoal, namely Fisht al-Aych.^[23][24][25]

See also

• Madinat al-Hareer
• Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway
• Al Mutlaa City
• Kuwait National Cultural District
• Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City

References

1. "الأشغال تنتظر مقاول ميناء مبارك لتسلم المرحلة الأولى ابتدائياً". Al Rai (in Arabic). 30 March 2021.
2. "جهاز الحرير وبوبيان يستكمل ميناء مبارك الكبير بعد... 2024". Al Rai (in Arabic). 26 April 2021.
3. "China and Kuwait to Build New Port". Port Technology. 21 February 2019.
4. "Phase One of Kuwait's BRI-Backed US$130 Billion Silk City Opens". Hong Kong Trade Development Council. 10 June 2019.
5. Ranju Warrier (19 February 2021). "Elsewedy Electric unit bags $53.2m contract for Kuwait's Boubyan substation". Construction Week.
6. "المجلس الوزراء الكويتي يعقد اجتماعه الاسبوعي - حكومة - 15/03/2021 - كونا". Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) (in Arabic). 15 March 2021. ثم أحيط مجلس الوزراء علماً بتوصية اللجنة بشأن إفادة وزير الأشغال العامة عن الأعمال التنفيذية لتشغيل المرحلة الأولى من مشروع ميناء مبارك الكبير، والترتيبات القانونية والإدارية والتعاقدية لتنفيذه
7. "Kuwait Quarterly Newsletter - Issue 4" (PDF). RSM International. 18 February 2021. p. 5.
8. "GSAS to be adopted in Kuwait following a strategic partnership between GORD and NTEC". e-mc2.gr. 18 April 2019.
9. "Connecting Boubyan Island Area in Kuwait". Elsewedy Electric. March 2021.
10. "Kuwait SCPD provides updates on $10.4bn worth of projects". Middle East Construction News. 20 September 2020. On the other projects, the top Kuwaiti official said the work on Mubarak Al Kabeer Port project had reached 52.7% completion
11. "Pakistan, Kuwait agree to develop linkages b/w Gwadar & Mubarak Al Kabeer Port". radio.gov.pk. 18 March 2021.
12. "Pakistan, Kuwait agree to strengthen links between Gwadar, Mubarak Al Kabeer ports". arabnews.pk. 19 March 2021.
13. "Kuwait's MEW to float tender for transmission stations". Zawya. 23 March 2021.
14. "Elsewedy unit inks project in Kuwait". Zawya. 17 February 2021.
15. "Kuwait inaugurates massive causeway to free trade zone". France24. 1 May 2019.
16. "الأشغال تُسلّم «شركة كوبري» موقع عمل طريق ميناء مبارك - بوبيان مطلع ديسمبر". Al Rai (in Arabic). 22 November 2020.
17. "الوطني: 40 % منها ترتبط بالبناء والتشييد". Al-Anba (in Arabic). 25 April 2021.
18. "الأشغال: طرح 92 عقداً خلال العام المالي 2021 / 2022". Al-Anba (in Arabic). 2 May 2021.
19. "أكاديمية الكويت لعلوم الإطفاء... الصرح الثالث على مستوى العالم". Al Rai (in Arabic). 18 April 2021. بالإضافة إلى مركزي إطفاء بري وبحري في جزيرة بوبيان في ميناء مبارك، بالتعاون مع وزارة الأشغال
20. "الحكومة تبحث عن كلفة أقل لمشروع سكة الحديد", Al Qabas (in Arabic), 19 July 2021
21. Nader Habibi (4 June 2018). "The Foreign Policy Implications of Kuwait's Vision 2035: Closer Economic Ties with Iran and Iraq". Payvand.
22. "Iraq says port dispute with Kuwait resolved".
23. UK, Integrity. "Ku-wait Right There! Iraq Accuses Kuwait of Infringing Shared Maritime Borders – Integrity UK". Retrieved 2021-12-19.
24. Bader Al-Saif. "Think Big: Why Broadening Negotiations Could Help Resolve the Kuwaiti-Iraqi Maritime Dispute". The Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center.
25. "Letter dated 7 August 2019 from the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council". United Nations.