Rondo Island (Indonesian: Pulau Rondo; Acehnese: Pulo Rondo) is Indonesia's northernmost territory,[1] located in the Andaman Sea, with a 0.650 km2 area 35m above sea level. The island is one of the outlying islands of Indonesia in the Aceh province of the Sumatra region.[2] It is administratively part of Ujung Bau village in the Sukakarya District of Sabang City, whose administration center is on Weh Island, south of Rondo.[2] Rondo is 50 km offshore from Indonesia's Sumatra mainland.[2] This otherwise uninhabited island, accessible only by boat, has an Indonesian military outpost with a heliport and blue-roofed barracks, an adjacent lighthouse complex with a red-roofed lighthouse keeper's house and a white skeletal lighthouse topped with a viewing gallery and lantern.[2][3][4]
India's southernmost territory (Indira Point) on Great Nicobar Island of the Nicobar Islands is approximately 84 miles or 135 km to the north from the Indonesia's northernmost territory on Rondo Island.[5][2] Centered 21 km or 13 miles northwest of Rondo, between Indonesia and India, is a submerged sandy and rocky coralshoal with a minimum depth of 51m.[3][4] The island is surrounded by a mile (1.7 km) wide reef which has a steep marine slope on its edges.[3][4] On the southern edge of island's reef are 14 small rocky islets,[3][4] at distances between 0.9 and 1.7 km. Between these islets and Weh Island is a 16–20 km or 3-3.5 leagues wide safe navigable channel.[5] Before the advent of modern shipping, shipping between Rondo and Weh Islands was considered safer due to calmer seas.[6]
Fei Xin (1385 – after 1436), a military man from the fleet of the Ming admiral Zheng He, in his book on countries visited by Chinese ships described an island in the middle of an important shipping route where north Sumatran natives in dugout canoes traded precious stones, Spittle Perfume (ambergris), coconuts, bananas and fish organs with sailors in exchange for gold coins. He described the native religion of the region as Buddhist, and mentioned the island's Buddhist temple and rock with a 3 ft-long footprint of Buddha. He described the habits and customs of the natives as liberal and simple but rich in form. Both women and men shaved their heads and covered their bodies with leaves instead of clothes. "Lung-Hsien-Hsu" was the Chinese name of the island, which has been identified with Rondo, Weh and Breueh Island in the ocean of Lambri (an Indianised north Sumatran kingdom from Srivijaya era) and Lemuria (hypothetical lost land with an ancient Tamil civilization).[10][11]
Danish shipliner Maersk's largest cargo ship ran aground off Rondo island on January 6, 1922, and was a total loss.[13]
Ecology
The topography of the half sphere shaped island, with a somewhat flattened top, is wooded and steepest on its north side.[3][4] The island is completely covered in tropical rainforest.[2] The fauna includes many species of snakes.[3][7] The region around the island is rich in marine habitats.[2]
^ abcdefghij1989, Sailing Directions (enroute) for the Strait of Malacca and Sumatera, Defence Mapping Agency's Hydrographic/Topographic Center,, 5th ed, 31–32.
