An unlikely nautical relic of World War II, the BRP Sierra Madre, sits hard aground on Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Manned by a handful of Philippine marines, the rusting hulk … Continue reading
Tag Archives: South China Sea
The much-anticipated live-action movie Barbie has been banned in Vietnam over the appearance of a map in the background of one scene allegedly depicting Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, claims disputed by Vietnam and at least seven … Continue reading
Jumbo Floating Restaurant, an iconic Hong Kong landmark, has capsized and sunk in the South China Sea, while under tow to an undisclosed location. NPR reports that the restaurant encountered “adverse conditions” on Saturday as it was passing the Xisha … Continue reading
On Monday, the US Navy released the report of its investigation of the underwater collision of the Seawolf Class submarine, USS Connecticut, with a seamount in the South China Sea. From the report’s Executive Summary: On 2 October 2021, Connecticut … Continue reading
Yesterday, the US Navy Pacific Fleet announced that the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut struck an object in international waters while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2. While the announcement did not identify where the collision took place, reports … Continue reading
The UK Daily Mail’s headline, as shown on Google, read “USS America aircraft carrier steams to intercept Chinese ships…” The story behind the headline is that the USS America and the guided-missile destroyer USS Bunker Hill are being deployed to intercept … Continue reading
A Chinese destroyer came perilously close to the US destroyer Decatur as it sailed 12 nautical miles off Gaven and Johnson reefs in the Spratly Islands. The Chinese destroyer is reported to have approached within 45 yards of the Decatur, which … Continue reading
As we posted yesterday, a Chinese naval vessel seized one of USNS Bowditch’s drone gliders. Today there are news reports that the Chinese are giving it back. Unfortunately, in the interim, several news outlets either misinterpreted what transpired, or, at the very least, led with headlines … Continue reading
In one of the stranger escalations of tensions between the US and the Chinese, a Chinese naval vessel seized one of USNS Bowditch drone gliders. USNS Bowditch is an oceanographic survey vessel which operates with a mix of civilian and military crew members. The … Continue reading
A blue hole in the South China Sea, called variously, Dragon Hole, Longdong and the Eye of the South China Sea, is reported to be the deepest blue hole in the world. At 987 feet (300.89 meters) deep, the Dragon Hole is … Continue reading
For those concerned by China’s aggressive expansion into the South China Sea, there is some very good news and some not so good news. The very good news is that an international tribunal in The Hague has overwhelmingly rejected Chinese claims … Continue reading
In 1981, Ngoc Nguyen was 13, one of the at least 800,000 of the so-called Vietnamese “boat people” who fled Vietnam by boat after the end of the war. He was crammed in an overcrowded boat with his family, among 65 … Continue reading
What’s in a name? Google has renamed a shoal located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon island in the South China Sea on their maps as Scarborough Shoal. They had previously identified the hazard to navigation by its Chinese name, … Continue reading
The owners of the product tanker Arsenal lost contact with the ship while she was underway in the South China Sea near the Anambas Archipelago, Indonesia. Fearing that the ship might have been hijacked by pirates, they contacted the Indonesian … Continue reading
Tensions are rising in the South China Sea, where at least a half dozen nations are asserting a jumble of overlapping claims of sovereignty, fishing and mineral rights. China is now ramping up their claims by announcing that as of … Continue reading
Last month we posted about a stand-off between Chinese fishing vessels and Philippine Coast Guard ships at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Both nations claim sovereignty over the area. Even the island name is in contention. The Philipines refers to Scarborough Shoal as Panatag … Continue reading
In July 1945, the Dutch submarine O-19 ran hard aground on Ladd Reef in the South China Sea deep in enemy waters. The Gato class submarine USS Cod was sent to rescue the Dutch sub. After two days of attempting to … Continue reading