"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎٣‎٥‎٧] (٨٦٢/٧١٦)

WATERWAYS
557
The Shatt al Arab is navigable as far as Maqil (the shipping centre
of Basra) by any vessel able to cross the bars at its entrance. The
Tigris is navigable by shallow-draught river steamers as far as
Baghdad, and with great difficulty by small steamers as far as Mosul
in the high-river season; on the Tigris above Mosul, and on the
Great and Little Zabs, navigation is downstream by rafts only. The
Euphrates and Shatt al Gharraf are navigable only by native sailing
craft.
The high-river season is normally from December to June, with
the maximum level on the Tigris in April and on the Euphrates in
May (figs. 3, 4): the minimum level occurs at the beginning of
October.
History
Navigation on the waterways of Iraq dates back to beyond classical
times (photos. 103, 104) and some of the types of craft still in use are
very ancient. The development of steamship traffic on the Tigris
was the consequence of Colonel Chesney’s classical journey in 1836
by steam paddleboat down the Euphrates from Birecik to Basra and
thence up to Baghdad. During the nineteenth century the Tigris
service was provided by the British company of Lynch Brothers and
by a rival subsidized Turkish company.
During the War of iqi 4 — i 9 ^^ the Inland Water Transport
organized a river supply service, and built the port of Basra, repair
workshops, and several fuel depots for the Tigris steamers. River
conservancy was also necessary, involving dredging, traffic control,
lighting, and bandalling—the use of bamboos and mats or wire
netting to divert water from shoals and so to scour one deep channel
instead of several smaller channels.
Between the wars steamer services were maintained on the Tigris
up to Baghdad, but railway competition soon led to greatly reduced
traffic and to neglect of conservancy, and irrigation diverted much
water from the navigable channels and also caused more silt to be
deposited. Increasing oil exports from Abadan led to the dredging
of the Rooka channel at the entrance to the Shatt al Arab, from 1924
onwards.
Since 1940 traffic on the Tigris has again been increased by the
temporary shipping difficulties in the Mediterranean, and by the
need to send aid by all possible routes to Russia. Channels have
again been improved by bandalling and dredging. The Kut-Baquba
Vi