Cornwallis South Reef

Cornwallis South Reef is a coral atoll reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. It covers an area of about 10 km by 5 km, and is entirely submerged at high tide.[1]

Cornwallis South Reef
Disputed island
Other names:
Đá Núi Le
Nanhua Reef (南华礁)
Satellite image
Geography
LocationSouth China Sea
Coordinates8.7191081°N 114.1819513°E / 8.7191081; 114.1819513
ArchipelagoSpratly Islands
Administered by
Vietnam
Claimed by
Vietnam
People's Republic of China

Territorial claims

The reef is controlled by Vietnam, but is claimed by China as part of its claim to the entire Spratly Islands. In 2009, Vietnam, in a submission to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, accepted that its continental shelf did not include Cornwallis and therefore they have no entitlement to exploit it.[1]

Development

The reef has been subjected to a small amount of development by Vietnam. Structures have been built at three points on the reef, in 2014/15 two access channels were dredged to allow ships enter the lagoon, and in 2015 small-scale land reclamation was started beside the new access channels.[1] Much of the reclamation work was washed away by Typhoon Melor in December 2015.[2]

References
  1. "Washed Away". Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. 2016. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
  2. Zou Luxiao (2016-02-02). "Typhoon Blows Away Illegal Island Made by Vietnam in South China Sea". People's Daily. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.