'File 4/34 Kuwait Territorial Waters' [‎13r] (25/112)

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COP
Ext 7166/46.
(T 16430/14114/380)
Dear Harrison,
P0PEIC2I OFFICE, S. 41,
17th October, 1946.
I am replying to your letter to Cls.rke of the 26th
August last about status of the waters of Koweit Bay.
Since the question was last discussed in 1940, the
question of the exploitation of dll deposits situated outside
territorial waters, but in close proximity to the coast, has
been the subject of considerable discussion, and the tendency
now is to regard it as relat ed rather to the ownership of the
sea bed than to that of the waters above, which questions are
governed in international law by widely different principles.
It is possible therefore that the right to exploit oil
in Koweit Bay may be determined independently of the status of
the waters of the Bay, but this matter is still awaiting
decision, and in the meantime it would be well to assemble -
all available evidence in support of the view that Koweit Bay
is a territorial inlet belonging to Koweit.
The kind of evidence required is broadly indi ated in
paragraph 4 of the Admiralty letter of the 12th June 1940, in
which they say that the claim to regard Koweit Bay as a
territorial inlet would rest not only on configuration but also
on the grounds that territorial rights are necessary for
defence and neutrality and that the Bay is secluded from normal
traffic routes. The Admiralty seemed to assume that there would
be no difficulty in establishing the territorial status of the
Bay on these grounds. It would be very helpful nevertheless
if concrete evidence of the long standing exercise of jurisdiction
over the waters of the Bay could be”produced" in the shape of laws
for the control of navigation over the whole,bay, within the
limits indicated in tne Admiralty letter, such as laws and
regulations regarding customs, lighting, buoying, harbour
and other dues, fisheries, etc., especially if these''have been
applied without protest to foreign vessels using the Bay.
F. A. K. Harrison, Esc, ,
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. ,
Y ours sincerely,
(Signed) R. Dunbar.