The Mozambique Channel (, , ) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long and across at its narrowest point, and reaches a depth of about off the coast of Mozambique. A warm current, the Mozambique Current, flows in a southward direction in the channel, leading into the Agulhas Current off the east coast of Southern Africa. The boarding party set scuttling charges and made their way back to the Graf Spee. The detonation of the charges sank the Africa Shell.

In 1942, the Mozambique Channel was a World War II clashpoint during the Battle of Madagascar.

France is present through Mayotte and the Scattered Islands, and maintains a military presence via Réunion, with naval assets patrolling fairly regularly. These islets provide exclusive economic zones (EEZs), rich in fisheries resources and potentially hydrocarbons. For France, the real challenge is to preserve its sovereignty over Mayotte, vis-à-vis the Comoros, and especially over the Scattered Islands, in the face of Malagasy threats. The Malagasy are legally contesting the French presence, believing that these islets were dependencies of Madagascar and that once independence was achieved, they should have reverted to Madagascar, not to France.

The 1800 kilometre long channel carries some 30% of the world's tanker traffic. A recent Islamist insurrection in northern Mozambique has increasingly led to disruption in the Mozambique Channel; the South African Navy has conducted intermittent anti-piracy patrols in the Channel since 2011.

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  • Japanese Submarines at Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel