Containers

20 containers adrift in vicinity 22-29N 119-41E at 140918Z jan

South China Sea · HYDROPAC 162/17

What this record establishes

Archived notice · 2017-01-19 09:28Z

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) · NAVAREA XI 31/17 160850Z JAN 17.. Issued 2017-01-16 09:28Z. 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
South China Sea. The parsed report position is 22.458, 119.708. It is a position in the source message, not a live location. Check the original wording for limits and qualifications.

Related notices and cancellation links

These reports were linked by category and sea, with positions within 30 nautical miles and issue dates within 30 days of another report's recorded in-force span. Links can extend through other members, so the full group can cover a larger area or period. Proximity does not confirm that they describe one incident.

  1. HYDROPAC 149/172017-01-15 · Archived notice
  2. HYDROPAC 162/17 · this notice2017-01-16 · Archived notice
Compare all 2 notices, changes and original texts →

Current notices and reporting history in the South China Sea →

issued
2017-01-16 09:28Z
status
Archived notice
self-cancels
2017-01-19 09:28Z
authority
NAVAREA XI 31/17 160850Z JAN 17.
NAVAREA
NAVAREA XI · named as the source of this relay
sea
South China Sea
position
22.458, 119.708
containers
20
source
NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z

Original warning text

SOUTH CHINA SEA.
TAIWAN STRAIT.
TAIWAN-SOUTHWEST COAST.
DNC 23.
1. 20 CONTAINERS ADRIFT IN VICINITY
   22-29N 119-41E AT 140918Z JAN.
2. ONE CONTAINER ADRIFT IN VICINITY
   22-26N 119-44E AT 142320Z JAN.
3. CANCEL THIS MSG 190928Z JAN 17.

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

8 within 180 nm since 1998 · 0 in the last 12 months · 0 listed in force now

98
00
05
10
15
20
22

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.

Month of issue in the collected archive

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

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 13:51Z; 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.