Bajo Nuevo Bank – Wikipedia

Bajo Nuevo Bank, besides known as the Petrel Islands ( spanish : Bajo Nuevo, Islas Petrel ), is a small, uninhabited reef with some small grass -covered islets, located in the western Caribbean Sea at Coordinates :, with a beacon on Low Cay at. The closest neighbor land sport is Serranilla Bank, located 110 kilometres ( 68 miles ) to the west. The reef was foremost shown on Dutch maps dating to 1634 but was given its confront diagnose in 1654. Bajo Nuevo was rediscovered by the english pirate John Glover in 1660. The reef is now submit to a sovereignty challenge involving Colombia and the United States. On 19 November 2012, in regards to Nicaraguan claims to the islands, the International Court of Justice ( ICJ ) found, unanimously, that the Republic of Colombia has sovereignty over both Bajo Nuevo and Serranilla Banks. [ 1 ]

geography [edit ]

Bajo Nuevo Bank is about 26 km ( 16 nautical mile ) long and 9 kilometer ( 5.6 security service ) wide-eyed. The satellite effigy shows two distinct atoll -like structures separated by a deep distribution channel 1.4 kilometer ( 0.87 mi ) wide at its narrowest point. The larger southwestern reef complex measures 15.4 kilometer ( 9.6 mile ) northeast-southwest, and is up to 9.4 km ( 5.8 secret intelligence service ) wide, covering an area of about 100 km2 ( 39 sq nautical mile ). The reef partially dries on the southern and eastern sides. The smaller northeastern reef complex measures 10.5 kilometer ( 6.5 secret intelligence service ) east-west and is up to 5.5 km ( 3.4 secret intelligence service ) wide, covering an area of 45 km2 ( 17 sq secret intelligence service ). The land area is minuscule by comparison. The most outstanding key is low Cay, in the southwestern atoll. It is 300 meter ( 330 yd ) long and 40 meter ( 44 yd ) wide ( about 1 hour angle or 2.5 acres ), no more than 2 molarity ( 6.6 foot ) high, and bare. It is composed of break coral, driftwood, and sand. The light up beacon on Low Cay is a 21 m ( 69 foot ) alloy tugboat, painted flannel with a crimson circus tent. It emits a focal plane beam of light as two white flashes of light every 15 seconds. The beacon was erected in 1982, [ 2 ] and reconstructed by the colombian Ministry of Defence in February 2008. It is presently maintained by the colombian Navy, and oversee by the state ‘s Maritime Authority. [ 3 ] [ 4 ]

Territorial challenge [edit ]

Bajo Nuevo Bank is the subjugate of conflicting claims made by a number of sovereign states. In most cases, the dispute stems from attempts by a state to expand its single economic partition over the surrounding seas. Colombia presently claims the sphere as share of the department of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Naval patrols in the area are carried out by the San Andrés fleet of the colombian Navy. [ 7 ] Colombia maintains that it has claimed these territories since 1886, as partially of the geographic archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia. [ 2 ] This date is disputed by other claimant states, most big among them Nicaragua, which has argued that Colombia had not claimed the territory by identify until recently. [ 8 ] Jamaica ‘s claim has been largely dormant since entering into a numeral of bilateral agreements with Colombia. Between 1982 and 1986, the two states maintained a conventional agreement which granted regulated fishing rights to Jamaican vessels within the territorial waters of Bajo Nuevo and nearby Serranilla Bank. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Jamaica ‘s sign of this treaty was regarded by critics as a de facto recognition of colombian sovereignty over the two banks. [ 10 ] however, the treaty is now extinguished, as Colombia declined to renew it upon its termination in August 1986. [ 10 ]

In November 1993, Colombia and Jamaica agreed upon a maritime delimitation treaty establishing a “ joint Regime Area ” to hand in glove manage and exploit life and inanimate resources in intend waters between the two aforesaid banks. [ 11 ] however, the territorial waters immediately surrounding the cays themselves were excluded from the zone of joint-control, as Colombia considers these areas to be part of its coastal waters. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] The exception circles were defined in the chart attached to the treaty as “ Colombia ‘s territorial sea in Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo ”. [ 10 ] The agreement came into effect in March 1994. [ 10 ] Nicaragua lays claim to all the islands on its continental ledge, covering an area of over 50,000 km2 in the Caribbean Sea, including Bajo Nuevo Bank and all islands associated with the San Andrés and Providencia archipelagoes. It has persistently pursued this title against Colombia in the International Court of Justice ( ICJ ), filing cases in both 2001 and 2007. [ 8 ] [ 14 ] The main cause of the dispute lies in the consider cogency and applicability of the Esguerr–Bárcenas treaty, exchanged with Colombia in March 1928. [ 8 ] The United States title was made on 22 November 1869 by James W. Jennett [ 15 ] under the provisions of the Guano Islands Act. [ 16 ] Most claims made by the U.S. over the guano islands in this area were formally renounced in a treaty with Colombia, dated September 1972. [ 17 ] however, Bajo Nuevo Bank was not mentioned in the treaty, and Article 7 of the treaty states that matters not specifically mentioned in the treaty are not subject to its terms. The United States considers the bank as an unincorporated unorganized territory. [ 16 ] [ 18 ] Honduras, prior to its ratification of a maritime boundary treaty with Colombia on 20 December 1999, [ 19 ] had previously besides laid claim to Bajo Nuevo and nearby Serranilla Bank. Both states agreed upon a nautical line in 1986 that excluded Honduras from any control over the banks or their encompassing waters. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] This bilateral treaty ensured that Honduras implicitly recognises Colombia ‘s sovereignty over the challenge territories. Honduras ‘s legal right to hand over these areas was disputed by Nicaragua before the ICJ. [ 23 ] [ 24 ]

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]