Johnson South Reef Johnson South Reef Johnson South Reef (; ), also known as Chigua Reef in China, Gạc Ma Reef in Vietnam and Mabini Reef in the Philippines is a reef in the southwest portion of the Union Banks in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea. It is controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC), but its ownership is disputed by the PRC, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Johnson South Reef lies adjacent to the Vietnamese-controlled Collins Reef (also known as Johnson North Reef) which lies to the northwest. It is naturally above water only at low tide. Prior
Piracy off the coast of Somalia vessels which pass through that area. The rate of attacks in January and February 2009 was about 10 times higher than during the same period in 2008 and "there have been almost daily attacks in March", with 79 attacks, 21 successful, by mid-April. Most of these attacks occurred in the Gulf of Aden but subsequently the pirates increased their range and started attacking ships as far south as off the coast of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. Below are some notable pirate events which have garnered significant media coverage since 2007. On 28 May 2007, a Chinese sailor was killed