Bajo Nuevo Bank

Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands (Spanish: Bajo Nuevo or Islas Petrel), is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at , with a lighthouse on Low Cay at .

The reef was first shown on Dutch maps dating to 1634 but was given its present name in 1654. Bajo Nuevo was rediscovered by the English pirate John Glover in 1660. Today, the cays are administered by Colombia as part of the department of San Andrés and Providencia.

Geography

Bajo Nuevo Bank is about 26 km long and 9 km wide. The satellite image shows two distinct atoll-like structures separated by a deep channel 1.4 km wide at its narrowest point. The larger southwestern reef complex measures 15.4 km northeast-southwest, and is up to 9.4 km wide, covering an area of about 100 km². The reef partially dries on the southern and eastern sides. The smaller northeastern reef complex measures 10.5 km east-west and is up to 5.5 km wide, covering an area of 45 km². The land area is minuscule by comparison.

The most prominent cay is Low Cay, in the southwestern atoll. It is 300 m long and 40 m wide (about 0.01 km²), no more than 2 m high, and barren. It is composed of broken coral, driftwood, and sand. The lighthouse on Low Cay is a 21 m (69 feet) metal tower, painted white with a red top. It was constructed in 1980. It emits a focal plane beam of light as two white flashes of light every 15 seconds. The lighthouse is currently operated by the Colombian Navy.

Territorial Dispute

Bajo Nuevo Bank is the subject of conflicting claims made by a number of sovereign states. In most cases, the dispute stems from attempts by a state to expand its exclusive economic zone over the surrounding seas.

Colombia considers Bajo Nuevo Bank as being part of the Department of San Andrés y Providencia. On 13 November, 1993, Colombia and Jamaica signed a maritime delimitation treaty establishing a "Joint Regime Area" to co-operatively manage, control, explore and exploit living and non-living resources in the waters between Bajo Nuevo, Serranilla Bank and Alice Shoal. However, the waters immediately surrounding the first two of these formations were excluded from the zone of joint-control.

Nicaragua lays claim to all the islands on its continental shelf, covering an area of over 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Bajo Nuevo Bank and all islands associated with the San Andrés and Providencia archipelagoes. It has persistently pursued this claim against Colombia in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has not been able to resolve the dispute.

The United States claim was made in the 19th century under the Guano Islands Act. Most of the guano islands claimed by the U.S. in the area of San Andrés and Providencia were officially ceded to Colombia in September 1972. But it is unclear whether Bajo Nuevo Bank was included in the agreement. On some records, it is stated that the U.S. considers the reef to be an unorganized, unincorporated United States territory.

Honduras, prior to its ratification of a maritime boundary treaty with Colombia on 20 December, 1999, had previously also laid claim to Bajo Nuevo and nearby Serranilla Bank. Both states agreed upon a maritime demarcation in 1986 that excluded Honduras of any control over the banks or their surrounding waters. This bilateral treaty ensured that Honduras implicitly recognises Colombia's sovereignty over the disputed territories. Honduras' legal right to hand over these areas was disputed by Nicaragua before the ICJ.

Translation of "Bajo Nuevo Bank"

Spanish: Bajo Nuevo, Basque: Bajo Nuevo, Japanese: バホヌエボ, Slovak: Bajo Nuevo, Swedish: Bajo Nuevo.