Lighthouses of Kuwait

Kuwait is an Arab emirate at the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf (also called the Gulf of Iran or sometimes simply "The Gulf"). Formerly an autonomous district of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, Kuwait became a British protectorate after World War I. The protectorate was terminated in 1961, and the country has been independent ever since except for a brief occupation by Iraq in 1990-91.

The offshore navigational aids in the Gulf are maintained by the Middle East Navigation Aids Service (MENAS), based in Bahrain. Additional aids to navigation in Kuwait are presumably maintained by the Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA).

The Arabic word for a lighthouse is mnarh or manara (منارة). Ra's is the word for a cape or headland, and jazirat is an island.

ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume D of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.

General Sources
Physical Map of Kuwait
This map is useful for understanding the locations of many of the lighthouses.

Al Kubr Light
Jazirat Al Kubr (Kubbar Island) Light, April 2009
Panoramio photo copyright soccerfriend; permission requested

Kuwait Bay and Kuwait City Lighthouses
Jazirat Miskan (Maskan, Mashkan) (1)
1918. Inactive. There is a reference to a British lighthouse still surviving on Miskan Island. Neither an aerial photo nor a Google satellite view shows the lighthouse clearly. Another satellite view shows the modern light (focal plane 11 m (36 ft); four white flashes every 30 s), which is on a small skeletal tower. Miskan is a small island about 20 km (13 mi) northeast of Ra's al Ard. The historic lighthouse is near the northwestern tip of the island. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Operator: Kuwait Ports Authority. Admiralty D7603; NGA 29224.
Jazirat Auhuh (Ahwah)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); three white flashes every 10 s. 20 m (66 ft) square skeletal tower, painted with black and white horizontal bands. The tower can be seen in an undated aerial photo of the island and its shadow appears in another aerial photo posted by the Kuwait government, but it does not appear in Google's distant satellite view. This light and the Ras al Ard light frame the entrance to Kuwait harbor. Located on an islet in the Gulf about 25 km (15 mi) east of Ra's al Ard. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Operator: MENAS. Admiralty D7588; NGA 29184.
Jazirat Umm an Naml (Umm al Namil)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 17 m (56 ft); white flash every 10 s. 16 m (52 ft) skeletal tower, painted with red and white horizontal bands. Abdulaziz Al-Shalabi has a very distant view, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the northeastern tip of an island about 16 km (10 mi) west of Ra's al Ard, marking the approach to the port of Al Jahra at the western end of Kuwait Bay. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Operator: Kuwait Ports Authority. Admiralty D7601.8.
Ash Shuwaykh Port Control
Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; two white flashes every 15 s. Light atop a 3-story white concrete harbor control building, seen in the foreground of Tareq Al-Obaid's photo. A more distant view is available, and Google has a satellite view. Ash Shuwaykh is Kuwait's commercial (non-petroleum) port. Located at the end of the breakwater quay in downtown Kuwait City. Site status unknown. Operator: Kuwait Ports Authority. Admiralty D7599.1.
* Ra's Ajuza
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 30 m (98 ft); green light flashing the Morse Code for "KHC" every 30 s. This light is probably shone from a communications tower atop a weather station building; Abu Barak has a photo, another photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. Located on a short pier on the northernmost point of downtown Kuwait. Site status unknown, but the tower can be seen from shore. Operator: unknown. Admiralty D7594; NGA 29216.
* Ra's al Ard (3?)
Date unknown (station established 1915). Active; focal plane 26 m (85 ft); white flash every 5 s. 22 m (72 ft) square skeletal tower, painted with black and white horizontal bands. A distant view is available, but only the shadow of the tower is seen in Google's satellite view. The Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait has a historic photo of an earlier light, probably the original, mounted on a stone pyramid. According to the caption, that lighthouse was built by the British Steam Navigation Company. A photo of the point shows a square beacon on the point that may be a reconstruction or modification of the original. Ra's al Ard is a promontory projecting into the Gulf at the east end of Kuwait City. Located on the tip of the promontory. Site appears to be open, tower closed. Operator: MENAS. ARLHS KUW-002; Admiralty D7592; NGA 29220.

Southern Kuwait Lighthouses
Ash Shu'aybah Port Control
Date unknown. Active; focal plane unknown; three white flashes every 15 s. The light is apparently mounted atop a very tall triangular concrete harbor control tower. A photo is available, and Google has a satellite view. Located at the end of the south breakwater at Ash Shu'aybah, a major petroleum port at the end of the Eighth Ring Road about 50 km (30 mi) south of downtown Kuwait City. Site status unknown. Operator: Kuwait Ports Authority. Admiralty D7581.9.
Jazirat Al Kubr (Kubbar, Khubbar)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 28 m (92 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. 25 m (82 ft) square skeletal tower. The tower is painted black, but it is wrapped with two white daymarks so that it shows black and white horizontal bands from a distance. A photo is at the top of this page, there's a 2009 photo, and an older aerial photo is also available, but the tower is not seen in Google's distant satellite view. Jim Buchele has a photo showing how a modern communications tower now dwarfs the lighthouse. Located on an islet in the Gulf about 45 km (28 mi) southeast of Ra's al Ard. Accessible only by boat. Site and tower closed. Operator: MENAS. ARLHS KUW-001; Admiralty D7573; NGA 29176.
Jazirat Qaruh (Garub)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 14 m (46 ft); white flash every 10 s. Approx. 12 m (39 ft) skeletal tower, painted with horizontal red and white bands. The light is carried on the shorter of two towers seen in a photo and an aerial photo of the island. Google has only a fuzzy satellite view. Qaruh is a small island about 25 km (15 mi) east of Mina Saids. During the First Gulf War, this was the first Kuwaiti territory taken by Coalition forces. Accessible only by boat. Operator: unknown. Site status unknown. Admiralty D7569; NGA 29316.
Umm al Maradim (2?)
Date unknown. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); two white flashes every 15 s. Approx. 22 m (72 ft) skeletal tower, painted with horizontal red and white bands. The light is carried on the shorter of two towers seen in an aerial view of the island. The view at right, an undated photo posted by the Kuwati government, shows a previous tower that may have been similar to the Kubbar Island lighthouse. Umm al Maradim is in the center of the Gulf at the southern limit of Kuwaiti sovereignty, about 80 km (50 mi) east of Mina Saids, Kuwait, and a similar distance west of Bushehr, Iran. Accessible only by boat. Site status unknown. Operator: MENAS. Admiralty D7568; NGA 29324.
Umm al Maradim Light
Umm al Maradim Light (tower on the right)
photo from the Center for Research and Studies on Kuwait

Notable faux lighthouses:

  • Al Kout is not listed as an aid to navigation.

Adjoining pages: East: Iran | South: Saudi Arabia

Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key

Posted August 6, 2009. Checked and revised March 27, 2012. Lighthouses: 10. Site copyright 2012 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.