42 containers adrift between 16-50N 113-05E and 16-10N 112-55E at 130200Z dec
South China Sea · HYDROPAC 968/98
What this record establishes
Archived notice · 1999-01-29 00:00Z
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). Issued 1998-12-13 13:10Z. 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 map shows the reported line or operation extent; it is not a vessel track. Check the original wording for limits and qualifications.
Current notices and reporting history in the South China Sea →
- issued
- 1998-12-13 13:10Z
- status
- Archived notice
- sea
- South China Sea
- position
- 16.500, 113.000
- containers
- 42
- source
- NGA MSI broadcast-warn JSON (archive, frozen 2024-05) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:38Z
Original warning text
42 CONTAINERS ADRIFT BETWEEN 16-50N 113-05E AND 16-10N 112-55E AT 130200Z DEC.
Reading this warning
- 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.
Collected reports in this area · drifting containers
6 within 180 nm since 1998 · 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.
- Partially submerged containers adrift in: a. 15-31.2N 112-13.2E at 140145Z dec2002-12-16
- Container adrift in 15-47N 112-39E at 120545Z dec2002-12-12
- Derelict M/V matten and numerous containers adrift in 16-09.5N 113-58.5E at 090900Z dec2002-12-09
- Container adrift vicinity 14-16.7N 114-20.8E at 172310Z feb2000-02-18
- Container adrift vicinity 14-46-36N 115-05-18E at 141005Z feb2000-02-14
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 22:05Z; 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.