Bombay Castle (South China Sea)


Bombay Castle, also known in ; Mandarin ; Abad Santos Shoal, is a reef with a lighthouse in the Rifleman Bank of the southern Spratly Islands. It is occupied by Vietnam, but also claimed by China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC).

Location and topography

Bombay Castle consists of a submerged reef located between and at the northern end of Rifleman Bank. At its shallowest point, it has a depth of consisting of sand and coral. It is east of Huyền Trân and nearly west of An Bang.
Bombay Castle has a tall lighthouse on steel pilings that was built in 1995. The lighthouse is two storied, with accommodation for the lighthouse keepers and a dish antenna.
The reef is named after the East Indiaman.

DK1 rigs

In addition to the lighthouse, three other DK1 rigs have been constructed by Vietnam in this area. The current cluster has 3 rigs in use.