The Strait of Bonifacio (Corsican: Bucchi di Bunifaziu, French: Bouches de Bonifacio, Gallurese: Bocchi di Bunifaciu, Italian: Bocche di Bonifacio, Sardinian: Istrettu de Bonifacio, Sassarese: Bocchi di Bonifaziu) (Bonifaccio is an older spelling from circa 1861) is the strait between Corsica and Sardinia, named after the Corsican town Bonifacio. It is 11 km (6.8 mi) wide [1] and divides the Tyrrhenian Sea from the western Mediterranean Sea. The strait is notorious among sailors for its weather, currents, shoals, and other obstacles.
The most famous disaster in the Strait of Bonifacio was that of the French frigate Sémillante on February 15, 1855. Sémillante had left the port of Toulon the day before on its way into the Black Sea to supply the Crimean War with troops. A storm caused it to hit a reef; the ship sank and none of the 750 soldiers on board survived.
After a tanker disaster in 1993, the passage through the Strait of Bonifacio has been prohibited for only French and Italian flag ships with dangerous goods.
Its maximum depth is 100 metres (330 ft). [2]