Iraq's oil ministry builds three new vessels

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Ministry of Oil has penned an agreement with the Korean "ENM" company to build three vessels, Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar Ismail said on Wednesday.

The Minister said in an official statement that these vessels will help reduce the expenses the government pays to foreign companies in exchange for services.

The three ships are "Abu al-Fadl", a maintenence vessel that also manages oil leaks in the water and is currently in service; "Safwan" a multi-functioning vessel that can serve in port maintenence, firefighting, and power-generation if needed; and "Shanasheel", the largest of the three.

"Shanasheel will be dedicated for mass maintenance purposes. It can also serve as a dorm. The company is working on training the local engineers and technicians," he said.

The CEO of the state-owned oil company said that the vessels will help reduce the expenses since the it pays for foreign companies to perform these functions.