Final UN annex identifies ownership disputes as a possible salvage complication

Before hostilities, a joint Combined Bureau of Coordination administered the waterway, chaired alternately each year by Iran and Iraq. Costs and revenues were shared equally, the annex stated; this...

Small wrecks and wrecked bridges blocked the 80-kilometre Bahmanshir east of Abadan. Iran was considering clearance and dredging to four metres, mainly to harbor fishing boats; the annex described a...

An earlier IMO list identified 86 ships sunk or immobilized in the Shatt al-Arab, while PSO plots showed 35 wreck locations. The mission inferred that some listed ships escaped or sank to the...

The annex clarified that a rough earlier total of 800 ships included small barges, tugs and fishing vessels beached on both banks. Some wreckage might predate the war, and most did not seriously...

Almost twelve years without dredging had left silt compressed into heavy mud, difficult to remove especially inside wrecked hulls. The annex identified a physical salvage obstacle distinct from the...

Before salvage work, the mission urged disclosure of ordnance and possible hazardous chemicals, provision of cargo manifests, and removal of mines and dangerous obstacles from riverbanks. These...

Iran’s Navy was assigned responsibility for clearing explosives from the waterway. The mission could not establish whether it had the needed technology or expertise; this uncertainty was not a finding...

Much marine-construction equipment for wreck removal was available in Iran, but heavy-lift cranes of 500–1,000 tonnes were an exception. The annex also called for advanced detection technology to...

Iran’s Transport Ministry estimated $1.6 billion for Shatt al-Arab wreck and explosive clearance, separate from dredging. The mission warned that a proper survey was needed and actual cost might...

The annex reported annual steel consumption of six million tonnes in 1980, while domestic production during the war remained below 1.5 million. The gap helped explain Iran’s priority for expanding...