TheMozambique Channel (French:Canal du Mozambique,Malagasy:Lakandranon'i Mozambika,Portuguese:Canal de Moçambique) is anarm of theIndian Ocean located between theSoutheast African countries ofMadagascar andMozambique. The channel is about 1,700 km (900 nmi; 1,100 mi) long and 419 km (226 nmi; 260 mi) across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of 3,292 m (10,801 ft) about 230 km (124 nmi; 143 mi) off the coast of Mozambique. Awarm current, theMozambique Current, flows in a southward direction in the channel, leading into theAgulhas Current off the east coast ofSouthern Africa.[1]
The St. Lazarus Banks are aseamount located about 50 to 75 nautical miles off the Quirimbas Archipelago in the channel. Rising from approximately 2,000 m to the shallowest depth of 12 m., they are famous for marine biodiversity and are a major location fordeep-sea fishing.
On 15 November 1939, under the command of CaptainPatrick (Paddy) Dove, the British Coastal TankerAfrica Shell was sailing through the Mozambique Channel en-passage fromQuelimane toLourenço Marques. During the morning, at a point 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) south-southwest from the lighthouse atCape Zavora, she was spotted by the GermanPocket BattleshipAdmiral Graf Spee, under the command of CaptainHans Langsdorff, and which was embarked upon a raidingsortie.Graf Spee ordered theAfrica Shell to stop by the firing of a shot across herbow. Having stopped theAfrica Shell, acutter with a boarding party was despatched fromGraf Spee and boarded the tanker, the officer in charge addressing Captain Dove in perfect English with the sentence,"Good morning, captain. Sorry; fortunes of war".[3] The boarding party ordered the ship's crew into their lifeboats before stripping theAfrica Shell of all foodstuffs including a small amount of wine. The crew were ordered to row for shore, except for Captain Dove who was taken prisoner on board theGraf Spee. Dove was incensed by the interception of his ship, and complained personally to Langsdorff, citing that theAfrica Shell was within Portuguese territorial waters and that the action was in clear violation of international law.[4][3][5] The boarding party setscuttling charges and made their way back to theGraf Spee. The detonation of the charges sank theAfrica Shell.
France is present through Mayotte and the Scattered Islands, and maintains a military presence via Réunion, with naval assets patrolling fairly regularly. These islets provide exclusive economic zones (EEZs), rich in fisheries resources and potentially hydrocarbons. For France, the real challenge is to preserve its sovereignty over Mayotte, vis-à-vis the Comoros, and especially over the Scattered Islands, in the face of Malagasy threats. The Malagasy are legally contesting the French presence, believing that these islets were dependencies of Madagascar and that once independence was achieved, they should have reverted to Madagascar, not to France.[6]
The 1800 kilometre long channel carries some 30% of the world's tanker traffic. A recent Islamist insurrection in northern Mozambique has increasingly led to disruption in the Mozambique Channel; the South African Navy has conducted intermittent anti-piracy patrols in the Channel since 2011.
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