Royal Captain Shoal
Royal Captain Shoal, also known as Kanduli Shoal (); Mandarin ; , is a shoal in the South China Sea and a part of Spratly Islands. It is located in the vicinity of Northeast Investigator Shoal and Half Moon Shoal, at the eastern edge of the area named "Dangerous Ground". History and etymology. The shoal is named after the East India company ship "Royal Captain" that ran aground in the vicinity of this shoal in 1773. The ship was subsequently wrecked and lost. Charged with Chinese merchandise(porcelain, tea, silk, glass and gold etc.) and a few passengers, the ship made  her journey from Canton, China to British port at Island Balambangan situated in north of Sabah and to the west of Pulau Banggi in December, 1773. On the 17th of the same month, at half past two A.M. it struck an unnamed island which was later called Royal Captain Shoal to mark the event. The ship was seriously damaged. The crew repaired it and got on running. It struck again and wrecked in the sea of the west Palawan coast. Fortunately most crew and passengers got saved. Location and topography. Spread over an area of 8 square kilometres, Royal Captain  Shoal is centered at 9°01’N 116°40’E near the Palawan passage. It is located 16 nautical miles southeast of Northeast Investigator Shoal, and north of Half Moon Shoal. It lies off the coast of Palawan, Philippines and consists of a few rocks that are above water at low tide that surrounded a lagoon. The rocks in the shoal dry at 1.2 metres. The lagoon has depths of up to 31 metres and contains a number of coral heads. Named features in this shoal include Observation Rock (at the northern tip of the shoal) that shows at half  tide. The shoal can only be entered at high water.