Bajo Nuevo Bank

Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands (Template:Langx), is a small, uninhabited reef with some small grass-covered islets, located in the western Caribbean Sea at Template:Coord, with a lighthouse on Low Cay at Template:Coord. The closest neighboring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located Template:Convert to the west.

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. The reef is now subject to a sovereignty dispute involving Colombia, Jamaica, and the United States.<ref>Bajo Nuevo: What you should know about the disputed island Jamaica ‘gave up’</ref> On 19 November 2012, regarding 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, although the judgment does not analyze or mention the competing claims of Jamaica or the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Geography

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

The most prominent cay is Low Cay, in the southwestern atoll. It is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide (about Template:Convert), no more than Template:Convert high, and barren. It is composed of broken coral, driftwood, and sand. The light beacon on Low Cay is a Template:Convert metal tower, painted white with a red top. It emits a focal plane beam of light as two white flashes of light every 15 seconds. The beacon was erected in 1982,<ref name="coralina">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Legal status of the Banks of Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo, page 8.</ref> and reconstructed by the Colombian Ministry of National Defence in February 2008. It is currently maintained by the Colombian National Navy and overseen by the state's Maritime Authority.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Contract detail between Colombian Defence Ministry and private contractor, Tecnosoluciones Ltda, for the replacement of various metal lighthouse structures, including on Bajo Nuevo Bank.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Photographs of Colombian lighthouses, with Bajo Nuevo Bank shown, pages 4–5.</ref>

Territorial dispute

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

Colombia currently claims the area as a part of the department of San Andrés and Providencia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Description and general history of the Department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina.</ref><ref name="mapa">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link An official map of Colombian borders, with treaty dates.</ref> Naval patrols in the area are carried out by the San Andrés fleet of the Colombian Navy.<ref>Template:In lang Armada de la República de Colombia: Forces and Commands Template:Webarchive – area is under the jurisdiction of Comando Específico de San Andrés y Providencia.</ref> Colombia maintains that it has claimed these territories since 1886 as part of the geographic archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia.<ref name="coralina" /> This date is disputed by other claimant states, who argue that Colombia had not claimed the territory by name until recently.<ref name="icjcase">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Nicaragua v. Colombia, Preliminary Objections.</ref>

Jamaica's claim was largely considered to be resolved since entering into several bilateral agreements with Colombia. Between 1982 and 1986, the two states maintained a formal agreement which granted regulated fishing rights to Jamaican vessels within the territorial waters of Bajo Nuevo and nearby Serranilla Bank.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Fishing agreement which permits regulated fishing rights to Jamaican vessels around Bajo Nuevo and Serranilla Banks.</ref><ref name="asil">Template:Cite book</ref> Jamaica's signing of this treaty was regarded by critics as a de facto recognition of Colombian sovereignty over the two banks.<ref name="asil" /> However, the treaty is now extinguished, as Colombia declined to renew it upon its expiration in August 1986.<ref name="asil" />

In November 1993, Colombia and Jamaica agreed upon a maritime delimitation treaty establishing the "Joint Regime Area" to cooperatively manage and exploit living and non-living resources in designated waters between the two aforementioned banks.<ref>Colombia Jamaica Joint Regime Treaty</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Review of the 1993 Maritime Delimitation Treaty between Colombia and Jamaica.</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Topographic map of the Colombia-Jamaica Joint-Regime Area, with the two exclusion circles shown.</ref> The exclusion circles were defined in the chart attached to the treaty as "Colombia's territorial sea in Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo", even though the treaty mentioned the dispute over territorial waters.<ref>IILSS-International institute for Law of the Sea Studies: Colombia–Jamaica maritime boundary and the Joint Regime Area</ref><ref name="asil" /> The agreement came into force in March 1994.<ref name="asil" />

Nicaragua formerly claimed all the islands on its continental shelf, 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 had persistently pursued this claim against Colombia in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), filing cases in both 2001 and 2007.<ref name="icjcase" /><ref>International Court of Justice: Nicaragua v. Colombia – Press Release, 2001.</ref> The dispute originated in the debated validity and applicability of the Esguerr–Bárcenas treaty, exchanged with Colombia in March 1928.<ref name="icjcase" /> Nicaragua formally accepted the ICJ's 2012 ruling of Colombian sovereignty in a 2014 constitutional amendment.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The United States claim was made on 22 November 1869 by James W. Jennett<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> under the provisions of the Guano Islands Act.<ref name="oia">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Lists Bajo Nuevo Bank as an insular area under U.S. sovereignty.</ref> Most claims made by the U.S. over the guano islands in this region were officially renounced in a treaty with Colombia dated September 1972.<ref>Template:In lang Treaty of exchange between Colombia and the United States, 1972 Template:Webarchive</ref> 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 an insular area.<ref name="oia" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Page 39 states that U.S. sovereignty over Bajo Nuevo is disputed. "Currently, the United States conducts maritime law enforcement operations in and around Serranilla Bank and Bajo Nuevo consistent with U.S. sovereignty claims." This is the only archived document from this source that mentions Bajo Nuevo Bank as an insular area. Template:Dead link</ref>

Honduras, before its ratification of a maritime boundary treaty with Colombia on 20 December 1999,<ref>Template:In lang Affirmation of Maritime Delimitation Treaty between Honduras and Colombia, 1999</ref> had previously also laid claim to Bajo Nuevo and nearby Serranilla Bank. Both states agreed upon a maritime demarcation in 1986 that excluded Honduras from any control over the banks or their surrounding waters.<ref>Template:In lang Treaty between Colombia and Honduras, 1986</ref><ref>Template:In lang Republic of Honduras: Political Constitution of 1982 through 2005 reforms</ref><ref>The American Society of International Law Template:Webarchive – see map at top of article.</ref> This bilateral treaty ensured that Honduras implicitly recognized Colombia's sovereignty over the disputed territories. Nicaragua disputed Honduras's legal right to hand over these areas before the ICJ.<ref>The Republic of Nicaragua v. The Republic of Colombia, CCJ Case File Template:Webarchive</ref><ref>Nicaragua-Honduras Territorial Dispute Template:Webarchive De Mar, Rebecca. American University, June 2002.</ref>

See also

• Alice Shoal
• List of Guano Island claims
• Rosalind Bank

External links

• Template:Gnis
• Website with a map of San Andrés and Providencia, Serranilla Bank, Bajo Nuevo Bank and Rosalind Bank Template:Webarchive
• Template:Webarchive – the website is related to San Andrés and Providencia.
• WorldStatesmen – lists the bank under the United States.
• Template:Cite rowlett