Royal Captain Shoal, also known as Kanduli Shoal ( tl, Kulumpol ng Kanduli);

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

; vi, Bãi Đồi Mồi, is a

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

and a part of

Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed o ...

. It is located in the vicinity of

Northeast Investigator Shoal Northeast Investigator Shoal, also known as Dalagang Bukid Shoal ( tl, Kulumpol ng Dalagang Bukid, lit=Cluster of the Field Maiden); Mandarin ; vi, Bãi Phù Mỹ, also marked as Investigator Northeast Shoal on some nautical charts, is a shoal ...

and

Half Moon Shoal Half Moon Shoal, also known as Hasa Hasa Shoal ( tl, Kulumpol ng Hasa Hasa); Mandarin , is a shoal at the eastern edge of the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. China and the Philippines have competing claims over the shoal. It is located cl ...

, at the eastern edge of the area named " Dangerous Ground".

History and etymology

The shoal is named after the East India company ship ''Royal Captain'' that ran aground in the vicinity of this shoal in 1773. The ship was subsequently wrecked and lost. Charged with Chinese merchandise(porcelain, tea, silk, glass and gold etc.) and a few passengers, the ship made her journey from Canton, China to British port at Island Balambangan situated in north of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

and to the west of Pulau Banggi in December, 1773. On the 17th of the same month, at half past two A.M. it struck an unnamed island which was later called Royal Captain Shoal to mark the event. The ship was seriously damaged. The crew repaired it and got on running. It struck again and wrecked in the sea of the west

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

coast. Fortunately most crew and passengers got saved.

Location and topography

Spread over an area of 8 square kilometres, Royal Captain Shoal is centered at 9°01’N 116°40’E near the

Palawan passage Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

. It is located 16 nautical miles southeast of

, and north of

. It lies off the coast of

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and consists of a few rocks that are above water at low tide that surrounded a lagoon. The rocks in the shoal dry at 1.2 metres. The lagoon has depths of up to 31 metres and contains a number of coral heads. Named features in this shoal include Observation Rock (at the northern tip of the shoal) that shows at half tide. The shoal can only be entered at high water.

References

{{South China Sea Shoals of the Spratly Islands Reefs of the Philippines Disputed reefs