Containers

Four containers adrift in 54-53.6N 000-07.3W at 312120Z jan

North Sea · HYDROLANT 274/15

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2015-02-03 23:20Z

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 171/15 312255Z JAN 15.. Issued 2015-01-31 23:17Z. 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 Sea. The parsed report position is 54.893, -0.122. 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 Sea →

issued: 2015-01-31 23:17Z
status: Archived notice
self-cancels: 2015-02-03 23:20Z
authority: WZ 171/15 312255Z JAN 15.
issued by: WZ
sea: North Sea
position: 54.893, -0.122
containers: 4
source: NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

NORTH SEA.
ENGLAND.
DNC 20.
1. FOUR CONTAINERS ADRIFT IN 54-53.6N 000-07.3W
   AT 312120Z JAN.
2. CANCEL THIS MSG 032320Z FEB 15.

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

23 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.

Three containers adrift in vicinity 53-24.9N 000-43.3E2018-11-20
Numerous containers adrift vicinity 56-46.1N 001-33.7E at 151600Z dec2012-12-15
Container adrift in 54-32.5N 000-44.4E at 171226Z jun2010-06-17
Two containers adrift in 54-16.8N 000-00.3W at 171125Z dec2009-12-17
Container adrift vicinity 52-20.7N 002-22.6E at 231703Z feb2005-02-23
Container adrift in 52-24.7N 002-29.4E at 230705Z feb2005-02-23

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 2026-10-02 05:37Z; 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.