Jamaica Channel

The Jamaica Channel is a strait separating the islands of Jamaica and Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. Along with the Windward Passage to its north, it connects the Caribbean Sea to the North Atlantic Ocean. Due to its location about 1,000 kilometres northeast of the Panama Canal, it is a main sea lane through which vessels with Pacific Ocean destinations sailing from the eastern seaboards of the United States and Canada, as well from Europe, frequently pass. [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/jm.html#Geo]

The strait is about 190 kilometres wide. Depth is up to 1,200 metres. [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt167nb66r&doc.view=content&chunk.id=d3_8_ch02&toc.depth=1&anchor.id=0&brand=eschol] Located in the strait about 55 kilometres west of Haiti is Navassa Island, an uninhabited limestone and coral island measuring some 5.2 km².