Bombay Castle (Spratly)
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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 out ...
with a
lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...
in the
Rifleman Bank A rifleman is an infantry soldier armed with a rifled long gun. Although the rifleman role had its origin with 16th century hand cannoneers and 17th century musketeers, the term originated in the 18th century with the introduction of the rif ...
of the southern Spratly Islands. 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
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 out ...
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 East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...
.


DK1 rigs

In addition to the lighthouse (DK1/21), three other
DK1 rigs The DK1 Platforms (), abbreviated from cụm Dịch vụ kinh tế - Khoa học kỹ thuật (), are a collection of offshore platforms built by Vietnam in the southern continental shelf of the country in the South China Sea. The rigs are complex s ...
("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.


See also

* List of maritime features in the Spratly Islands


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