Half Moon Shoal, also known as Hasa Hasa Shoal ( tl, Kulumpol ng Hasa Hasa);

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

, is a

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

at the eastern edge of the Spratly Islands of the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

have competing claims over the shoal. It is located close to Northeast Investigator Shoal and 100 km from

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

, Philippines.

Notable incidents

The Chinese frigate ''Dongguan'' ran aground on the shoal on 11 July 2012. On 6 May 2014, Philippine police arrested 11 Chinese fishermen allegedly poaching sea turtles on board the fishing boat, Qiongqionghai, near the Half Moon Shoal. On 29 August 2018, BRP ''Gregorio del Pillar'' ran aground at the shoal.

References

Shoals of the Spratly Islands {{Asia-geo-stub