Bajo Nuevo Bank

{{Short description|Colombia-controlled uninhabited reef in the western Caribbean Sea}}

{{Infobox islands

| disputed = yes

| name = Bajo Nuevo Bank

| type = reef and island

| plural = yes

| other_names = Petrel Islands

| image_name = Bajo Nuevo ISS004-E-7525.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| image_caption = Image of Bajo Nuevo from the ISS

| pushpin_map = Caribbean#Colombia San Andrés y Providencia#Colombia

| location = Caribbean Sea

| coordinates = {{Coord|15|53|N|78|38|W|type:isle|display=inline}}

| length_km = 26

| width_km = 9

| elevation_m = 2

| highest_mount = Unnamed location on Low Cay

| country = {{COL}}

| country_admin_divisions_title = Department

| country_admin_divisions = San Andres and Providencia

| country1 = {{JAM}}

| country2 = {{NIC}}

| country3 = {{USA}}

| population = 0

| timezone = COT

| utc_offset = -05:00

}}

Bajo Nuevo Bank, also known as the Petrel Islands ({{langx|es|Bajo Nuevo, Islas Petrel}}), is a small, uninhabited reef with some small grass-covered islets, located in the western Caribbean Sea at {{Coord|15|53|N|78|38|W|type:isle|display=inline,title}}, with a lighthouse on Low Cay at {{Coord|15|51|N|78|38|W|}}. The closest neighboring land feature is Serranilla Bank, located {{convert|110|km|mi|abbr=off}} 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 and the United States. 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 Honduras or the United States.{{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/124/17162.pdf |title=Territorial and maritime dispute (Nicaragua vs Colombia) | year = 2012 | access-date = 2012-11-27 | author=International Court of Justice | author-link=International Court of Justice }}

Geography

Bajo Nuevo Bank is about {{convert|26|km|mi|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|9|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide. The satellite image shows two distinct atoll-like structures separated by a deep channel {{convert|1.4|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide at its narrowest point. The larger southwestern reef complex measures {{convert|15.4|km|mi|abbr=on}} northeast-southwest, and is up to {{convert|9.4|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide, covering an area of about {{convert|100|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}. The reef partially dries on the southern and eastern sides. The smaller northeastern reef complex measures {{convert|10.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} east-west and is up to {{convert|5.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide, covering an area of {{convert|45|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on}}. The land area is minuscule by comparison.

The most prominent cay is Low Cay, in the southwestern atoll. It is {{convert|300|m|yd|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|40|m|yd|abbr=on}} wide (about {{convert|1|ha|acre|abbr=on|disp=or}}), no more than {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} high, and barren. It is composed of broken coral, driftwood, and sand. The light beacon on Low Cay is a {{convert|21|m|ft|abbr=on}} 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,{{cite web|url=http://www.coralina.gov.co/archivos/archi19.pdf |title=Anexo 7 |publisher=Colombian Government, Ministry of National Defence |date=August 1997 |access-date=2009-12-22 |language=es |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009153834/http://www.coralina.gov.co/archivos/archi19.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2011 }} Legal status of the Banks of Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo, page 8. and reconstructed by the Colombian Ministry of Defence in February 2008. It is currently maintained by the Colombian Navy and overseen by the state's Maritime Authority.{{cite web|url=http://www.contratos.gov.co/archivospuc1/2008/C/115001007/08-11-78323/C_PROCESO_08-11-78323_115001007_755461.pdf |title=Contract No. 153 |publisher=Colombian Government, Ministry of National Defence |date=February 2008 |access-date=2009-10-23 |language=es |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707053952/http://www.contratos.gov.co/archivospuc1/2008/C/115001007/08-11-78323/C_PROCESO_08-11-78323_115001007_755461.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2011 }} Contract detail between Colombian Defence Ministry and private contractor, Tecnosoluciones Ltda, for the replacement of various metal lighthouse structures, including on Bajo Nuevo Bank.{{cite web|url=http://www.dimar.mil.co/vbeContent/library/documents/DocNewsNo5625DocumentNo4811.pdf|title=Grupo de Señalización Marítima del Caribe|publisher=Colombian Government, Ministry of National Defence|date=May 2008|access-date=2009-11-16|language=es|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707053317/http://www.dimar.mil.co/vbeContent/library/documents/DocNewsNo5625DocumentNo4811.pdf|archive-date=7 July 2011|url-status = dead}} Photographs of Colombian lighthouses, with Bajo Nuevo Bank shown, pages 4–5.

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 part of the department of Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina.{{cite web|url=http://www.sanandres.gov.co/historia.html |title=Historia del Departamento Archipiélago |publisher=Government of the San Andrés Department |year=2008 |access-date=2009-12-20 |language=es |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707053739/http://www.sanandres.gov.co/historia.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 }} Description and general history of the Department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina.{{cite web|url=http://ssiglapp.igac.gov.co/ssigl/mapas_de_colombia/galeria/IGAC/Oficial_F2004.pdf |title=Mapa Oficial Fronteras Terrestriales y Maritima Convenciones |publisher=Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi |access-date=2009-10-25 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} An official map of Colombian borders, with treaty dates. Naval patrols in the area are carried out by the San Andrés fleet of the Colombian Navy.{{in lang|es}} [http://www.armada.mil.co/index.php?idcategoria=75605& Armada de la República de Colombia: Forces and Commands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902091529/https://www.armada.mil.co/index.php?idcategoria=75605& |date=2 September 2017 }} – area is under the jurisdiction of Comando Específico de San Andrés y Providencia. Colombia maintains that it has claimed these territories since 1886 as part of the geographic archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia. This date is disputed by other claimant states, who argue that Colombia had not claimed the territory by name until recently.{{cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/124/14305.pdf|title=Territorial and Maritime Dispute|publisher=International Court of Justice|date=December 2007|access-date=2009-11-17}} Nicaragua v. Colombia, Preliminary Objections.

Jamaica's claim has been 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.{{cite web|url=http://untreaty.un.org/unts/60001_120000/10/4/00018176.pdf |title=Fishing Agreement Between Jamaica and the Republic of Colombia|publisher=United Nations|date=November 1982|access-date=2009-11-20}} Fishing agreement which permits regulated fishing rights to Jamaican vessels around Bajo Nuevo and Serranilla Banks.{{cite book

| last1 = Charney

| first1 = Jonathan

| author2= American Society of International Law

| author-link2=American Society of International Law

| title = International Maritime Boundaries, Vol. 2–3

| publisher = Martinus Nijhoff Publishers

| year = 2004

| location = Boston, United States

| pages = 2616

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XkgfZJjh3BUC

| id = p2179-2192

| isbn = 978-90-411-0345-1}} Jamaica's signing of this treaty was regarded by critics as a de facto recognition of Colombian sovereignty over the two banks. However, the treaty is now extinguished, as Colombia declined to renew it upon its expiration in August 1986.

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.[https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/JAM-COL1993MD.PDF Colombia Jamaica Joint Regime Treaty] 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/cc_sc_nf/1994/c-045_1994.html |title=Sentencia No. C-045/94 |publisher=Government of Colombia, Secretaría del Senado |date=February 1994 |access-date=2009-11-22 |language=es |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707053609/http://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/cc_sc_nf/1994/c-045_1994.html |archive-date=7 July 2011 }} Review of the 1993 Maritime Delimitation Treaty between Colombia and Jamaica.{{cite web|url=http://www.invemar.org.co/redcostera1/invemar/docs/mec/mapas/hoja1.pdf|title=Continental, Coastal and Marine Ecosystems of Colombia, 1 of 36|publisher=José Benito Vives de Andréis Marine and Coastal Research Institute (INVEMAR)|year=2001|access-date=2009-12-22}} Topographic map of the Colombia-Jamaica Joint-Regime Area, with the two exclusion circles shown. The exclusion circles were defined in the chart attached to the treaty as "Colombia's territorial sea in Serranilla and Bajo Nuevo". The agreement came into force in March 1994.

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.[http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/index.php?pr=567&p1=3&p2=1&case=124&p3=6 International Court of Justice: Nicaragua v. Colombia] – Press Release, 2001. The dispute originated in the debated validity and applicability of the Esguerr–Bárcenas treaty, exchanged with Colombia in March 1928. Nicaragua formally accepted the ICJ's 2012 ruling of Colombian sovereignty in a 2014 constitutional amendment.{{Cite web |title=Nicaragua 1987 (rev. 2014) Constitution - Constitute |url=https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Nicaragua_2014 |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=www.constituteproject.org |language=en}}

The United States claim was made on 22 November 1869 by James W. Jennett{{cite book

| last1 = Moore

| first1 = John Bassett

| author2= United States Government, Department of State

| author-link2=United States Department of State

| title = A Digest of International Law, Vol. 8

| publisher = Government Printing Office

| year = 1906

| location = Washington, United States

| pages = 788

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ieQxAAAAIAAJ

| id = p77

| isbn = 978-1-4432-8111-9}} under the provisions of the Guano Islands Act.{{cite web|url=http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/acquisition_process.htm |title=Acquisition Process of Insular Areas |publisher=United States Government, Department of the Interior |access-date=2008-01-13 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414172502/http://www.doi.gov/oia/Islandpages/acquisition_process.htm |archive-date=14 April 2012 }} Lists Bajo Nuevo Bank as an insular area under U.S. sovereignty. 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.{{in lang|es}} [http://www.armada.mil.co/tratados/tratcol-usa.doc Treaty of exchange between Colombia and the United States, 1972] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524052908/http://www.armada.mil.co/tratados/tratcol-usa.doc |date=24 May 2011 }} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/og98005.pdf |title=Application of the U.S. Constitution |publisher=United States Government, General Accounting Office |date=November 1997 |access-date=2008-01-13 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080216015423/http://www.gao.gov/archive/1998/og98005.pdf| archive-date= 16 February 2008 |url-status = live}} 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. {{Dead link|date=April 2021}}

Honduras, before its ratification of a maritime boundary treaty with Colombia on 20 December 1999,{{in lang|es}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110704040518/http://200.26.152.57/SIDN15%5CArchivos%5CNormatividad%5CLegislaci%C3%B3n%20Nacional%5CLeyes%20de%20Colombia%5CLeyes%201999%20(491%20-%20552)%5CLey%20539%20de%201999%20Tratado%20l%C3%ADmites%20-%20Honduras.doc Affirmation of Maritime Delimitation Treaty between Honduras and Colombia, 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 from any control over the banks or their surrounding waters.{{in lang|es}} [https://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/TREATIES/COL-HND1986MD.PDF Treaty between Colombia and Honduras, 1986]{{in lang|es}} [http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Honduras/hond05.html Republic of Honduras: Political Constitution of 1982 through 2005 reforms][http://www.asil.org/insights071017.cfm The American Society of International Law] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902105343/http://www.asil.org/insights071017.cfm |date=2 September 2009 }} – see map at top of article. 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.[http://www.munuc.org/munucxvii/pdfs/ICJ_A.pdf The Republic of Nicaragua v. The Republic of Colombia, CCJ Case File] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009024314/http://www.munuc.org/munucxvii/pdfs/ICJ_A.pdf |date=9 October 2011 }}[http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/nicaragua-honduras.htm Nicaragua-Honduras Territorial Dispute] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927115922/http://www1.american.edu/TED/ice/nicaragua-honduras.htm |date=27 September 2009 }} De Mar, Rebecca. American University, June 2002.

References

External links

{{Gnis|1946007}}
[http://www.san-andres.com/docs/maps_eng.php Website with a map of San Andrés and Providencia, Serranilla Bank, Bajo Nuevo Bank and Rosalind Bank] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902090842/http://www.san-andres.com/docs/maps_eng.php |date=2 September 2017 }}
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223043232/http://www.oceandots.com/atlantic/san-andres/bajo-nuevo2.php |date=23 December 2010 |title=Aerial picture of Bajo Nuevo Bank }} – the website is related to San Andrés and Providencia.
[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/US_minor.html WorldStatesmen] – lists the bank under the United States.
{{Cite rowlett|col}}

Category:Caribbean islands of Colombia

Category:Disputed islands of North America

Category:Disputed islands of South America

Category:Insular areas of the United States

Category:International territorial disputes of the United States

Category:Uninhabited islands of Colombia

Category:Uninhabited islands of Nicaragua

Category:Islands of the West Caribbean

Category:Caribbean islands claimed under the Guano Islands Act

Category:Atolls of the North Atlantic Ocean

Category:Atolls of Colombia

Category:Atolls of the United States