IOR/R/15/2/1374

The file comprises correspondence relating to the raising of notes of protest by various parties, in response to damage sustained to vessels at sea, or loss of cargo from vessels while at sea. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Master of the SS Begum, O G Rowland Jones; the Chief Local Representative of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO), Milton H Lipp.

The file includes:

• correspondence dated October 1931 relating to an incident in which a lighter, attending to the SS Barpeta at Bahrain, lost some of its cargo during a squall, and subsequent arrangements for the raising of a note of protest by the nakhudas involved (ff 3-7);
• correspondence in Arabic relating to notes of protest, with handwritten notes by Agency staff (in English), dated March 1938 (ff 13-14) which refer to questions of whether such correspondence should be dealt with by the Vernacular or English Offices of the Political Agency, in response to the applicants for notes of protest being non-English speakers (ff 14-19);
• a copy of a note of protest raised by the Master of the El Segundo at Bahrain, dated 9 March 1939 (f 20);
• correspondence relating to the ‘touching’ of the Rennie Shoals [Mushţ Rinnī] by the SS Begum on 9 April 1939, including: numerous letters from the Master of the Begum, O G Rowland Jones; a certificate of survey completed by Lloyd’s agents at Bahrain; depth sounding measurements; a copy of deck log entries; and a chart indicating the location and circumstances of the accident (ff 21-35);
• correspondence relating to the loss of steel plates from the barge CASOC 101 in August 1941, with correspondence and multiple copies of a note of protest, exchanged between Milton H Lipp of BAPCO, and the Political Agent (ff 36-51).