Lighthouses of the Spratly Islands

The Spratly Islands (as they are known in the West) are a group of more than 100 islands and reefs spread across an elliptical area 1000 km (625 mi) long and 400 km (250 mi) wide in the South China Sea northwest of Borneo, southwest of the Philippines, and east of Vietnam. The history of the islands is long and complex. France claimed the islands as part of French Indochina and occupied several of them, but this claim was not recognized internationally. Presently Vietnam, China, and Taiwan claim all of the islands, Malaysia and the Philippines claim some of them, and Indonesia and Brunei have economic interests in the area although they make no formal claims. Following the reunification of the country in 1975, Vietnam moved quickly to establish a presence in the Spratlys. The Vietnamese now occupy more than 20 islands, and they have built substantial lighthouses on at least nine of them. Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Philippines also operate one or more lights in the islands. These lights do have navigational value, but they are also intended as assertions of sovereignty, even though international tribunals have ruled several times that building a lighthouse does not establish ownership of an island. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume F of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112. General Sources Maritime Safety Company II - Lighthouses From the Vietnamese maritime safety agency, information on lighthouses of southern Vietnam and the Spratly Islands, with photos for many of the lighthouses. The text is all in Vietnamese. The last group of lighthouses listed are the Spratly lighthouses. The Voyage through Five Lighthouses A brief English-language article posted by the Communist Party of Vietnam. The English translation is rather shaky. Digital Gazetteer of the Spratly Islands A table of islands listing the occupier and noting the location of lighthouses as of 1995; useful but out of date.

An Bang (Amboyna Cay) Light Vietnam Maritime Safety Company II photo

Lighthouses Operated by Vietnam
Note: The Spratlys are called Truong Sa in Vietnam.
Song Tu Tay (Southwest Cay of North Danger Reef)

1993. Active; focal plane 38 m (125 ft); white flash every 15 s. 36 m (118 ft) round concrete tower with lantern and gallery, rising from the center of a multistory station building. Lighthouse painted white. North Danger Reef is at the extreme northern end of the Spratlys. Northeast Cay, at the other end of the reef, is occupied by the Philippines. Site and tower closed. ARLHS SPR-007; Admiralty F2824.5; NGA 20289.2.

Da Lat (Ladd Reef) 1994. Active; focal plane 40 m (131 ft); white flash every 5 s. 42 m (138 ft) square pyramidal steel skeletal tower with lantern and gallery mounted on a 2-story octagonal station building, all standing on concrete and steel piles. Lighthouse painted with red and white horizontal bands. A 2008 photo is available. Ladd Reef, which is dry only at low tide, is near the southwestern end of the Spratlys and is the closest land (or near-land) to Vietnam. China is said to have placed a marker here in 1992, which probably encouraged action by Vietnam to occupy the area. Site and tower closed. ARLHS SPR-004; Admiralty F2825.1; NGA 20290. Phuc Tan (Prince of Wales Bank) 1994. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); white flash every 5 s. 23 m (75 ft) tower; the light is displayed from the top of a hexagonal or octagonal keeper's house standing on tall pilings. Lighthouse painted white. A 2008 photo is available, and a small partial photo is available (halfway down the page). Phuc Tan is a submerged reef of the Prince of Wales Bank at the extreme southwestern corner of the Spratlys. Site and tower closed. NGA 20290.2. Huyen Tran (Alexandra Bank) 1994. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); three white flashes, in a 2+1 pattern, every 10 s. 23 m (75 ft) tower, form unknown, with gallery; the light is displayed from a short skeletal tower on the gallery. A 2007 photo probably shows this tower or the next one, Que Duong. Huyen Tran is a submerged reef of the Alexandra Bank, about 15 km (9 mi) southeast of the Prince of Wales Bank at the extreme southwestern corner of the Spratlys. Site and tower closed. NGA 20290.4. Que Duong (Grainger Bank) 1994. Active; focal plane 23 m (75 ft); four white flashes every 16 s. 23 m (75 ft) tower, form unknown, with gallery; the light is displayed from a short skeletal tower on the gallery. A 2007 photo probably shows this tower or the previous one, Huyen Tran. Que Duong is a submerged reef of the Grainger Bank, about 25 km (15 mi) southwest of the Alexandra Bank at the extreme southwestern corner of the Spratlys. Site and tower closed. NGA 20291.2.

Da Lat Light Vietnam Maritime Safety Company II photo

Ba Ke (Rifleman Bank, Bombay Castle)

1995. Active; focal plane 22.5 m (74 ft); three white flashes, in a 2+1 pattern, every 12 s. 22.5 m (74 ft) tower, form unknown. No photo available. Ba Ke, also called Bombay Castle, is a submerged reef at the northern end of the extensive Rifleman Bank, about 125 km (80 mi) east of Huyen Tran (Alexandra Bank) and the same distance west of An Bang (Amboyna Cay). Site and tower closed. NGA 20290.6.

Da Tay (West Reef) 1994. Active; focal plane 22 m (72 ft); three white flashes, period not specified. 20 m (66 ft) cylindrical tower with lantern and gallery rising from the center of a multistory station building. Tower painted gray; station building painted yellow. West Reef is one of the London Reefs, about 65 km (40 mi) northeast of Ladd Reef. Site and tower closed. ARLHS SPR-008; Admiralty F2825.15; NGA 20290.1. An Bang (Amboyna Cay) (2) 1938. Reactivated (inactive 1941(?)-1995); focal plane 25 m (82 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. 22 m (72 ft) octagonal concrete tower with lantern and gallery, rising from a 2-story concrete keeper's house. Tower painted gray; keeper's house and gallery rail painted yellow. MSC's photo at the top of this page shows the earlier all-white pattern, which is also seen in a 2005 photo. A 2008 photo shows the current color pattern, and a wider view is also available. With an area of about 1.6 ha (4 acres), Amboyna is one of few southern Spratly Islands that actually has some dry land. France occupied the island in 1933, and Vietnam had resumed control of the island at least by 1984. The historic lighthouse was restored and reactivated in 1995. Located in the southern part of the Spratlys, about 120 km (75 mi) southeast of Da Tay Light. Site and tower closed. ARLHS SPR-002; Admiralty F2825.18; NGA 20290.8. Tien Nu (Pigeon Reef, Tennent Reef) 2000. Active; focal plane 22 m (72 ft); three white flashes, in a 2+1 pattern, every 10 s. 20.5 m (67 ft) round concrete tower with lantern and gallery centered on a 3-story octagonal crew quarters building. Lighthouse painted beige with blue trim. A 2005 photo is available. The Communist Party article says, "This island has the most beautiful lighthouse in [the] Truong Sa archipelago." The mostly-submerged Pigeon Reef is 265 km (165 mi) due east of West Reef, and its occupation by Vietnam represented a significant geographical extension of Vietnamese activity in the Spratlys. Site and tower closed.

Da Tay Light Vietnam Maritime Safety Company II photo

Lighthouses Operated by the Philippines
Note: The Spratlys are called the Kalayaan Islands in the Philippines.
Pagasa (Thi Tu, Thitu) Island

1976(?). Active; focal plane unknown; white flash every 5 s. Approx. 25 m (82 ft) square cylindrical white concrete skeletal tower with a roofed gallery; the light appears to be mounted atop the roof. This tower serves as an observation tower at the military airstrip built on the island in 1976 by the Phillipines Air Force. A 2007 photo is available, also a second photo (halfway down the page),and an aerial photo of the island. Pagasa is the second largest of the Spratlys and is the principal base for the Philippines in the archipelago. A permanent population of about 300 has settled on the island. In 2007 the air force announced plans to rehabilitate the airstrip with an eye to encouraging deleopment of the island as a beach resort. Located about 45 km (27 mi) south of North Danger Reef. Site and tower closed. Admiralty F2824; NGA 20289.6.

Lighthouses Operated by Taiwan Note: The Spratlys are called the Nansha Islands in China. Taiping Dao (Itu Aba Island) Date unknown (1942?). Inactive. Approx. 7 m (23 ft) square cylindrical masonry tower rising from the front of a 1-story masonry keeper's house. The building appears in the photo at right, and the mainland Chinese web site from which this photo was taken also has a closeup (third photo on the page), and Google has a satellite view. Itu Aba is the largest of the Spratly Islands, almost 1 km (0.6 mi) long and with an area of 46 ha (114 acres). The Digital Gazetteer mentions a lighthouse on the island, but there is no light listed there at the present time. Japan, which ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, quickly seized the Spratlys in 1941 and established a naval base on Itu Aba. The surviving masonry building does appear to be a Japanese lighthouse from which the lantern has been removed; however, it may never have been in service. At the end of World War II in 1945, the (Nationalist) Chinese warship Taiping arrived to take the surrender of the Japanese garrison. The Nationalist government took over the Japanese base and has occupied it continuously since 1956. Presently the island has a coast guard station, a weather station, and an army garrison of about 600 troops. The island is in the northern Spratlys about 75 km (47 mi) almost due south of Pagasa Island. Site and tower closed.

Taiping Dao; Republic of China photo

Lighthouses Operated by Malaysia
* [Layang Layang (Swallow Reef)]

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); white flash every 5 s. Triangular gray concrete tower. No photo available; there is an aerial photo of the island. In 1983, after an unsuccessful effiort to occupy Amboyna Cay, Malaysia chose Swallow Reef (Pulau Layang Layang) as its main outpost in the Spratlys, building an airstrip, a small naval base, and more recently a 15-room scuba diving resort. The resort is the destination of regular flights from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, making this the only island in the Spratlys accessible to tourists. The island is in the southernmost Spratlys about 110 km (70 mi) southeast of Amboyna Cay. Site open, tower presumably closed. Admiralty F2825.2; NGA 24376.

[Semarang Barat Besar (Royal Charlotte Reef)]

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); two white flashes every 10 s. Triangular gray concrete tower. No photo available. Barely breaking the surface, this reef is about 50 km (30 mi) southwest of Layang Layang. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty F2825.3; NGA 24380.

[Semarang Barat Kecil (Louisa Reef)]

Date unknown. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); white flash every 10 s. Triangular gray concrete tower. There is a photo (near the bottom of the page) showing an unlit gray obelisk as of 2003; we don't know if the light is mounted on this structure, but that seems likely. Southernmost of all the Spratly islands, Louisa Reef also lies within the fishing zone claimed by Brunei. Located about 125 km (80 mi) southwest of Layang Layang. Site open, tower closed. Admiralty F2825.4; NGA 24384.

Information available on lost lighthouses:

Notable faux lighthouses:

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Posted April 24, 2006. Checked and revised October 1, 2008. Lighthouses: 11. Site copyright 2008 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.