Iraq said it had signed a 511 million euro ($690 million) contract with South Korea's Daewoo to build a sea barrier at its planned Grand Faw port in the south of the country.

Under the contract, Daewoo will build the barrier, known as a "breakwater" within 30 months, Iraq's Transport Ministry said in a statement on its website.

It said Daewoo was one of four companies which had bid for the contract to build the barrier at Grand Faw, which is located in Basra, Iraq's southern oil hub.

Grand Faw is one of several projects which Iraqi authorities hope will create a transportation corridor between the Middle East and Europe that will bypass the Suez Canal.-Reuters