Tek Sing 1822
Marker: recorded wreck position (Age of Sail).
Key facts
| Name | Tek Sing | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1822 | English Wikipedia lead text (year following a loss verb, parsed) |
| Era | Age of Sail | derived from year |
| Ship type | ship, shipwreck | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | People's Republic of China | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Sea / ocean | South China Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Indonesia | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 43 km from land |
| Position | -2.4151, 107.0695 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
The Tek Sing (simplified Chinese: 泰兴号; traditional Chinese: 泰興號; pinyin: Tài Xīng Hào; Wade–Giles: T'ai4 Hsing1 Hao4) was a large three-masted Chinese ocean-going junk which sank on 6 February 1822, in an area of the South China Sea known as the Belvedere Shoals. The vessel was 50 meters in length, 10 meters wide and had a burden of about 800–900 tons. Its tallest mast was estimated to be 27 metres (90 ft) in height. The ship was manned by a crew of 200 and carried approximately 1,600 passengers.
It is one of the few "Asian vessels discovered in Southeast Asia [whose name is known]"; generally, neither the name nor the date is known. The Tek Sing is an exception." Generally, shipwrecks are named either after a landmark or location near which they or the cargo they held were found.
Diving & visiting
On 12 May 1999, British marine salvor Michael Hatcher discovered the wreck of the Tek Sing in an area of the South China Sea north of Java, east of Sumatra and south of Singapore. It is the largest Chinese wooden shipwreck ever discovered.
Location
- Recorded position: -2.4151, 107.0695 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: South China Sea
- Nearest coast: Indonesia
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Tek Sing (revision 1369688798), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Discovery”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
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Browse more: Asia wrecks · wrecks off Indonesia · South China Sea · Age of Sail