Vanguard Bank

Lore & Background

Vanguard Bank was originally placed under the jurisdiction of the Con Dao Special Zone, Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam began installing steel-framed DK1 platforms in 1989, with later designs modeled after deep-water drilling rigs. Three platforms are currently operational: DK1/11 completed on May 5, 1994; DK1/12 completed on August 8, 1994; and DK1/14 completed on April 20, 1995. Garrisoned personnel belong to the DK1 Battalion, originally under the 171st Brigade of the Vietnam People's Navy, later reassigned to the 2nd Regional Command. Two operational lighthouses, each with a tower height of 22 meters and a luminous range of 12 nautical miles, emit white light with different flashing patterns.

Reader's Guide

Vanguard Bank's significance lies in its role as a site of active infrastructure development and territorial dispute. Vietnam asserts exclusive rights to construct and regulate installations on the bank under UNCLOS 1982 Articles 60 and 80, and states it does not intentionally turn the submerged bank into an island. China, through historical name changes from Qianwei Bank to Wan'an Bank, considers Vanguard Bank part of the Nansha Islands and an indivisible part of Chinese territory. The international legal context notes that submerged features are not subject to separate sovereignty claims unless within historic waters or another feature's exclusive economic zone, and that coastal states exercise only sovereign rights over the continental shelf for resource exploration and exploitation, without sovereignty. The bank's legacy is thus tied to competing legal interpretations and physical occupation via platforms and lighthouses.

Did You Know?

• The shallowest section of Vanguard Bank is at its northern tip, with a minimum depth of 16 meters.
• Three DK1 platforms are operational: DK1/11, DK1/12, and DK1/14, completed between 1994 and 1995.
• China first transliterated Vanguard Bank as Qianwei Bank in 1935, later renaming it Wan'an Bank in 1947.