Bombay Castle, also known in vi, Đá Ba Kè;

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 ...

; Abad Santos Shoal ( fil, Buhanginan ng Abad Santos, lit=Sandbank of Abad Santos), is a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

with a lighthouse in the Rifleman Bank of the southern

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 ...

. It is occupied by

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, but also claimed by China (PRC) and

Taiwan (ROC) Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

Location and topography

Bombay Castle consists of a submerged

located between and (between and ) at the northern end of Rifleman Bank. At its shallowest point, it has a depth of consisting of sand and coral. It is east of Huyền Trân ( Alexandra Bank) and nearly west of An Bang (

Amboyna Cay Amboyna Cay, also known as vi, Đảo An Bang; ms, Pulau Amboyna Kecil; Datu Kalantiaw Island ( tl, Pulo ng Datu Kalantiaw, lit=Island of Datu Kalantiaw); Mandarin , and other names, is an island of the Spratly Islands group in the South China ...

). Bombay Castle has a tall lighthouse on steel pilings that was built in 1995. The lighthouse is two storied, with accommodation for the lighthouse keepers and a dish antenna. The reef is named after the East Indiaman .

DK1 rigs

In addition to the lighthouse (DK1/21), three other DK1 rigs ("economic, scientific and technological service stations") have been constructed by Vietnam in this area. The current (2015) cluster has 3 rigs in use. * DK1/4: Completed 16 June 1989, was the 2nd DK1 rig completed. It collapsed on the night of 4 December 1990 during a heavy storm. * DK1/9: Completed 22 August 1993.close-up
* DK1/20: Completed 13 August 1998. * DK1/21: Completed 19 August 1998. This rig includes a lighthouse.

References

External links

Vietnamese lighthouse on Bombay Castle
(photo)
NGA chart 93049 showing Rifleman, Southwest and Vanguard Banks
(7-9N,109-112E), oceangrafix.com * Larger scale charts also showing Vietnam coast
NGA chart 93020
(7-10N,104-110E)
NGA chart 93030
(9-16N,105-116E), oceangrafix.com
DK1 rigs photo gallery
hoangsa.org *
Bombay Castle
{{South China Sea Reefs of the Spratly Islands Rifleman Bank Disputed reefs

Location and topography

DK1 rigs

See also

References

External links