Bajo Nuevo Bank

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NASA Image Bajo Nuevo

The Bajo Nuevo Bank (also called the Petrel Islands) is a small, uninhabited reef with some small islets, covered with grass, located in the western Caribbean Sea at 15°53′N 78°38′WCoordinates: 15°53′N 78°38′W, with a lighthouse on Low Cay at 15°51′N 78°38′W. The satellite image clearly shows two distinct atoll-like structures separated by a deep channel 1.4 km wide at its narrowest point. The larger southwestern reef complex, on which is Low Cay, measures 15.4 km northeast-southwest, and is up to 9.4 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 minuscle by comparison. Low Cay measures about 0.01 km².

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 British pirate John Glover in 1660. Bajo Nuevo is about 26 km long and 9 km wide. The most prominent cay is Low Cay, 300 m long and 40 m wide. Low Cay is about five feet high and barren. It is composited of broken coral, driftwood, and sand. On Low Cay is a lighthouse at 15°51'N 78°38'W, which emits a focal plane beam of light as two white flashes of light every 15 seconds from a 21 m (69 feet) metal tower, painted white with a red top. It is unclear whether the lighthouse is currently operable or who, if anybody, operates the lighthouse.

Bajo Nuevo is the subject of conflicting claims on the part of the United States (since August 18, 1856), Jamaica, Colombia (and possibly even Honduras). Colombia considers Bajo Nuevo Bank as being part of San Andrés and Providencia. The claim by the United States derives from the Guano Islands Act and specifically refers to the Low Cay. While it is clear that almost all of the islands in the area of what is now San Andrés and Providencia that were occupied by the United States on grounds of the Guano Islands Act since the late 19th century were returned by the United States to Colombia in 1982, it is unclear if the Bajo Nuevo Bank, Serranilla Bank, (and possibly Rosalind Bank) have been also returned by the United States to Colombia or not.

If the claim by the United States on Bajo Nuevo Bank is valid, Bajo Nuevo Bank would be considered an unorganized, unincorporated United States territory. In the case of Bajo Nuevo Bank, the situation is even more complicated than in the case of Serranilla Bank because of the relative close proximity of Bajo Nuevo Bank to Jamaica, probably evoking or having evoked claims by Jamaica for Bajo Nuevo Bank. On the other hand, the situation in the case of Bajo Nuevo Bank seems to be also less complicated compared to the case of Serranilla Bank because the distance between Bajo Nuevo Island and Honduras is considerably greater than the distance between Serranilla Bank and Honduras, thus weakening possible claims by Honduras for Bajo Nuevo Bank.