Indian North Agulhas Current

This stretch of water lies off the Eastern Cape coast of southern Africa, where the Agulhas Current runs south along the continental shelf, narrow, swift and strong. Ships sailing down the African coast were carried along by the current, but in storms they could lose ground quickly. In 1782 the East Indiaman Grosvenor was wrecked on the Pondoland coast to the north-west, one of the best-known losses on this shore.