The Straits of Corfu or Corfu Channel is the narrow body of water along the coasts of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares la ...

and Greece to the east, separating these two countries from the Greek island of

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek islands, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of G ...

on the west. The channel is a passage from the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

on the north to the Ionian Sea that is used by

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ex ...

local to Albania and Greece to the ports of Saranda, Albania, and

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa ( el, Ηγουμενίτσα, ) is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, ...

, Greece, and by local and tourist traffic in Albania and from the Greek mainland to Corfu, in addition to some international traffic from the Adriatic.

Corfu Channel Incident

The

Corfu Channel Incident The Corfu Channel Incident consists of three separate events involving Royal Navy ships in the Channel of Corfu which took place in 1946, and it is considered an early episode of the Cold War.

refers to three separate incidents involving

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

ships in the Straits of Corfu which took place in 1946, and it is considered an early episode of the Cold War.Australian Journal of Legal History
Half Light Between War and Peace: Herbert Vere Evatt, The Rule of International Law, and The Corfu Channel CaseTimes Online
Obituary: Lieutenant-Commander Hugh Knollys Navigator who won a DSC on D-Day and survived when his destroyer hit a mine in the postwar Corfu Channel incident. During the first incident, Royal Navy ships came under fire from Albanian fortifications. The second incident involved Royal Navy ships striking mines and the third incident occurred when the Royal Navy conducted

mine-clearing Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contr ...

operations in the Corfu Channel, but in Albanian territorial waters, and

complained about them to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

. This series of incidents led to the

Corfu Channel Case The ''Corfu Channel'' case (french: Affaire du Détroit de Corfou, links=no) was the first public international law case heard before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) between 1947 and 1949, concerning state responsibility for damages a ...

, where the United Kingdom brought a case against the People's Republic of Albania to the International Court of Justice.JSTOR
The Corfu Channel Case Quincy Wright The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Jul., 1949), pp. 491-494 (article consists of 4 pages) Published by: American Society of International Law Retrieved 31-07-08 Because of the incidents, Britain, in 1946, broke off talks with Albania aimed at establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. Diplomatic relations were only restored in 1991.UK in Albania (British Embassy in Albania)
Quote: "Discussions on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations were finally broken off as a result of the Corfu Channel incidents. In May 1946 the Albanians fired on two Royal Navy Cruisers and in October 1946 two Royal Navy destroyers were damaged by mines with the loss of 44 men. Britain was awarded damages at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Albania refused to recognise the judgement. In retaliation, Britain refused to permit the release of Albanian gold held since the War by the Tripartite Gold Commission." and "Post-War diplomatic relations were finally established on 29 May 1991"

References

{{Authority control Corfu

Albania–Greece border International straits Landforms of Corfu (regional unit) Landforms of the Ionian Islands (region) Albanian Ionian Sea Coast