Page 86 - The Persian Gulf Historical Summaries (1907-1953) Vol III

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(b)

! Letter, dated February 24, 1953, from the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
to the American Independent Oil Company acknowledging Receipt of
(a) above, approving the Proposed Supplementary Agreement and setting
forth the Principles adopted for the Delimitation of Territorial Waters

I am directed by Mr. Secretary Eden to acknowledge receipt of your letter
informing him of your Company’s agreement to certain undertakings in connexion
with the Supplementary Agreement which is to be negotiated between your
Company and the Ruler of Kuwait in order to redefine the seabed limits of the off­
shore area included in and covered by the Concession Agreement made between
your Company and the Ruler on 28th June, 1948.
Mr. Eden confirms that the undertakings given in your letter are acceptable
to Her Majesty’s Government and that he is prepared to convey to the Ruler
Her Majesty’s Government’s approval of the Supplementary Agreement in the
form in which it has been agreed as a result of correspondence between your
Company and the Foreign Office.
Annexed to this letter is a statement of the principles which Her Majesty’s
Government at present recognise as the correct principles for the delimitation of
territorial waters. It should, however, be understood that these principles are
subject to any modifications which may be necessary in the light of international
decisions on the subject, as, for example, the decision of the International Court
of Justice in the so-called “ Fisheries Case ” between the Governments of the
United Kingdom and Norway. Her Majesty’s Government reserve the right to
make any such modifications and would inform your Company accordingly.

ANNEX

Principles adopted by Her Majesty’s Government for the Determination and
Delimitation of Territorial Waters
N.B.—These principles are liable to modification.

The unit of measurement recognised by Her Majesty’s Government for the
purpose of measuring the belt of territorial waters is three nautical miles. The
manner in which this belt is delimited is stated in the following rules: —
(1) Subject to the rules governing bays, islands, &c., the base-line from which
the territorial belt is measured is the line of low-water mark along the entire coast.
(2) In the case of bays, the base-line is a straight line drawn across the opening
at the nearest point to the entrance where the opening does not exceed ten miles
in width.
(3) Any island (that is, any piece of land, rock, reef, &c., which is surrounded
by water and permanently above high-water mark and which is clearly under the
sovereignty of a State) has its own territorial belt subject to rule (5) below.
(4) Any patch which dries at low-water within the territorial belt as measured
from the mainland or from an island counts as a piece of territory for the purpose
of the delimitation of territorial waters, so that the outer limit of the belt can be
traced from the drying patch. However, the territorial belt may only be extended
once by the operation of this rule.
(5) If an island or chain of islands lies at the opening of a bay which is more
than ten miles wide, the base-line may be drawn across the opening by way of the
islands, provided the intervals nowhere exceed ten miles in length. This is subject
to the island in fact closing the bay by throwing navigation outside the island
(or chain of islands) and not leaving a channel inside the island (or chain of islands)
which could reasonably be used by international maritime traffic.
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