A stricken vessel on the Shatt al-Arab

[Anglo Persian Oil Company]. Employment of Anglo Persian Oil Company craft.

€ 600.00

Run aground on the Shatt al-Arab: a harbour master's signed account of the laborious refloating operation of Royal Navy Auxiliary "War Sirdar", which ran aground on a mudbank at Mawiyah Island in the Shatt-al-Arab river on Persian territory on 12 March 1933. The operation involved several craft of the Anglo Persian Oil Company, including S.T. "Kumaki", "Herald" and "Lady Curzon", alongside no fewer than ten Basra port ships, barges, and dredgers. Eventually, a whole week later, on 19 March, the "War Sirdar" was successfully refloated and continued its journey to Abadan accompanied by the APOC vessel "Kumaki".

The 1933 Foreign Office Annual Report on Iraq includes a description of this politically charged incident occurring right on the Persian frontier: "All efforts to refloat the vessel by the aid of tugs and the laying out of anchors having failed, the Port Director, Basra, ordered dredging operations to be commenced. On two occasions the Persian authorities intervened and ordered the dredging to cease. The ship, after being aground for a week, was eventually refloated by the aid of tugs and anchors and with a favourable wind and tide".

Includes a sheet of tide information for Mawiyah Spit. A unique survial.