'Dangerous ground'

Thursday 15 January, 2009 07:00 GMT

On the navigation chart, it is billed simply as ‘Dangerous Ground' but the area around the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea holds all sorts of potential hazards for the Volvo Ocean Race crews as they head north to China in the fourth leg.

They are the target of sovereignty claims by six different countries, all trying to cash in on their strategic political and military location in addition to the oil, gas and fishing riches that are said to lie below the surface across a wide area of approximately 400,000 kms.

The territorial disputes between Vietnam, China, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have been going on for years but all of a sudden have become a major talking point among Volvo navigators for two major reasons.

Firstly the region is regarded as a potential flash point for armed conflict so the fleet could attract some unwelcome attention if it strays outside conventional shipping channels, which race boats like to do.

More worringly perhaps is the fact that no systematic surveys of the area have been carried out for many years which means there are vast uncharted patches of coral reef, atoll, rock and sand-bank, all capable of causing untold damage if struck at high speed.

Those that are charted may have moved, making the passage through the Spratly Islands, named after an English mariner who charted them in the 19th century, an extremely precarious affair.

Remember also, says Will Oxley, who provides navigation support to PUMA Ocean Racing, that much of this leg will be raced in darkness and navigators and skippers will be looking for the quickest way through to gain an edge over the rest of the fleet.

"Vessels have been warned not to approach the territorial area because they could get boarded so it could be interesting," he said.

"Commercial ships have a defined route through the islands and they tend not to jump around but race boats have not received any advice. Their route will depend on the wind but it could well be that the quickest way through would be straight through the middle of the Dangerous Ground.

"Though obviously not the quickest if you run into a reef."

That's not supposed to be there!

The prudent thing to do, he added, is to create an exclusion box of your own and skirt round it to keep worrying to a minimum.

"The uncharted reefs are probably a bigger hazard than the possibility of having your boat boarded. These reefs could be up to six miles out of place so much of the navigation will be eye ball stuff. If you have clear visibility during the day, you should mostly be OK but in the dark it could be tricky especially if you get squalls too."

It will be important to be pragmatic, said Telefonica Blue navigator Simon Fisher.

"If you are not confident, play it safe and watch your depth. The uncharted waters is a bit concerning and I know some of the other guys are worried about stuff that's not on the charts.

"And there is always the worry about piracy but you can't think about it too much. To win the race, you have to go where you have to go and no one is going to avoid an area because of the pirates.

"We will take advice but we have a race to win and the chances of them stopping a yacht are relatively low. We have to be sensible."

After the Spratly Islands, the navigators have the Paracel Islands to contend with, including Woody Island which houses an 8,100 ft runway built specially for H-6 bombers plus antiship cruise missiles and a long-range surface-search radar to detect surface ship targets. There are no Welcome to Woody Island signs on this jetty.

Further north and the unmarked Chinese fishing boats come into play. On her Asian Record Circuit in 2006, Ellen MacArthur reportedly said the waters off China were most difficult place she had ever sailed - worse even than the English Channel - due to all the unmarked, unlit craft, she encountered there.

"This leg will be a real navigational challenge, unlike anything any of navigators have experienced before," warned Oxley.