Iraq has signed a deal with a Turkish company and is in touch with US firms for the purchase of smart computerised buoys to better control waters around its ports, an Iraqi port official was quoted on Monday as saying.

The new buoys, which are equipped with sophisticated sensors to monitor large areas of water, are needed for Iraq as it is pursuing post-war plans to develop its ports and other marine facilities, said Farhan Al-Fartousi, Director of the General Company for Ports in Iraq, an affiliate of the Transport Ministry.

“We are in the process of contacting several firms to get these buoys…they include an American company specialised with smart buoys that can detect oil leakages and other accidents in the water as they are equipped with modern cameras and sensors that allow it to transmit what is happening around,” he told the official daily Alsabah.

Fartousi disclosed that GCPI had already signed a contract with a Turkish firm to supply some Iraqi ports with smart buoys, but he did not identify that company.

The paper quoted the Company’s marine control section Ramzi Ashia as saying there are plans to “import a set of smart buoys” to better control Iraq’s waters and ensure more accurate information about pollution, sea and air temperatures, pressure, speed of sea currents and weather conditions.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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