Containers

Six containers adrift vicinity 59-59.5N 003-05.0W at 292300Z jan

North Atlantic Ocean · HYDROLANT 263/16

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2016-02-02 17:50Z

This notice comes from the historical archive. Its archived status does not establish when or how the reported situation ended.

Source and dates: NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · WZ 170/16 301334Z JAN 16.. Issued 2016-01-30 17:50Z. First collected 2026-08-17 13:38Z; last seen in collection 2026-08-17 15:46Z. Collection dates record ingestion, not a new incident or a fresh field observation.
Location covered: North Atlantic Ocean. The parsed report position is 59.992, -3.083. It is a position in the source message, not a live location. Check the original wording for limits and qualifications.

Current notices and reporting history in the North Atlantic Ocean →

issued: 2016-01-30 17:50Z
status: Archived notice
self-cancels: 2016-02-02 17:50Z
authority: WZ 170/16 301334Z JAN 16.
issued by: WZ
sea: North Atlantic Ocean
position: 59.992, -3.083
containers: 6
source: NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

EASTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
SHETLAND ISLANDS.
DNC 20.
1. SIX CONTAINERS ADRIFT VICINITY
   59-59.5N 003-05.0W AT 292300Z JAN.
   REPORT SIGHTINGS TO CGOC SHETLAND.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 021750Z FEB 16.

Reading this warning

DNC (Digital Nautical Chart): A reference to one of the regions of NGA's Digital Nautical Chart, used to tell the reader which charts a warning affects.
Lost containers: Shipping containers lost overboard, reported floating or semi-submerged, often in groups after a single incident.
Adrift: Loose and moving with wind and current — a vessel, container, buoy, log or anything else no longer secured.
Position (degrees and minutes): How warnings write positions: degrees, a hyphen, then minutes, with N/S and E/W — 49-40.8N 003-43.8W.
Date-time group (DTG): A compact UTC timestamp — day, hour and minute followed by Z — such as 201500Z for the 20th at 15:00 UTC.
CANCEL THIS MSG: The warning's own expiry: a line telling the reader when the message cancels itself.

All warning terms →

Collected reports in this area · drifting containers

26 within 180 nm since 1999 · 0 in the last 12 months · 0 listed in force now

Counts include repeat notices about the same situation. NGA archive coverage ends 2024-05; live collection began 2026-08-17. The period between them is incomplete. An empty year is not evidence that no hazards occurred.

33 containers adrift in vicinity 58-36N 002-56W at 311156Z oct2020-11-01
Ten containers adrift in 58-36N 002-56W at 311156Z oct2020-10-31
Ten containers adrift in 58-36N 000-56W at 311156Z oct2020-10-31
Container adrift in 60-39.7N 001-47.1E at 020745Z jul2017-07-02
Container adrift in 60-37.2N 001-40.3E at 011812Z jul2017-07-01
Container adrift in vicinity 60-48.03N 001-42.55E at 290730Z jun2017-06-29

Month of issue in the collected archive

All available years combined. Uneven collection and repeat bulletins affect these counts; this chart does not measure the seasonality or probability of incidents.

Nearby notices listed in force · within 120 nm

No other collected notice is currently listed in force within this radius. This does not establish safe conditions.

Worldwide in the collected sources

0 drifting containers listed in force · see all

Record snapshot 2026-10-01 23:40Z; source collection times vary.

Containers

Shipping containers lost overboard and reported adrift or semi-submerged. All current drifting containers →

Not for navigation. This is a re-rendering of an official navigational warning for awareness; mariners must use official NAVAREA broadcasts and their national MSI service.