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Bombay Castle (Vietnamese Bãi Ba Kè, Chinese : Pi-p'o pao chiao / Pengbo Bao) is a shoal with a lighthouse in the Rifleman Bank of the southern Spratly Islands. It is occupied by Vietnam.
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Location and Topography
Bombay Castle consists of a submerged reef located between 07°50′N 111°40′E and 07°56′N 111°42′E (between 7.833°N 111.667°E / 7.833; 111.667 and 7.933°N 111.700°E / 7.933; 111.700) at the northern end of Rifleman Bank. At its shallowest point, it has a depth of 3 meters consisting of sand and coral. It lies 80 miles east of Huyền Trân (Alexandra Bank) and nearly 80 miles west of An Bang (Amboyna Cay). Bombay Castle has a 22.5 metre tall lighthouse (built:1995) on steel pilings. The lighthouse is two storied, with accommodation for the lighthouse keepers and a dish antenna.
The reef is named after the East Indiaman clipper Bombay Castle.
DK1 rigs
In addition to the lighthouse (DK1/21), three other DK1 rigs ("economic, scientific and technological service stations") have been constructed by Vietnam in this area. The current (2015) cluster has 3 rigs in use.