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New satellite imagery has revealed for the first time a hulking steel rig in the Yellow Sea between China and South Korea that has inflamed tensions between the two nations.
The photographs, supplied exclusively to Newsweek, show the latest of several large steel platforms that China has installed in the Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ), a jointly managed stretch of the Yellow Sea, known in Korea as the West Sea, where the Chinese and South Korean exclusive economic zones (EEZs) overlap.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul and the South Korean Embassy in Washington with emailed requests for comment.
Satellite imagery labeled by SeaLight analyst Bill Conroy shows the Chinese aquaculture jackup rig in the Yellow Sea’s Provisional Measures Zone. Satellite imagery labeled by SeaLight analyst Bill Conroy shows the Chinese aquaculture jackup rig in the Yellow Sea’s Provisional Measures Zone. SkyFi
Rising Tensions
An EEZ extends 200 nautical miles (230 miles) from the coast, granting claimant states sole access to its underwater natural resources, including fishing grounds, according to international maritime law.
The PMZ, established under a 2000 agreement, permits only fishing-related activities and navigation in the disputed area until a formal maritime boundary is agreed upon. South Korea, a U.S. treaty ally, says the structure—installed without its knowledge or consent—violates that arrangement.
Unlike earlier platforms reportedly deployed and later removed following protests from Seoul last year, China is doubling down on the presence of its latest jackup rig, named for three long legs that can be lowered to the sea floor for stabilization.
Researchers told Newsweek that the pointed placement was likely part of a broader Chinese territorial push, similar to the Beijing’s expansive moves in the South China Sea.
Aquaculture vs. Appropriation
The rig arrived in the area in October 2022, according to a review of satellite photos by Ray Powell, director of the Stanford University-affiliated maritime analysis initiative SeaLight. Powell said it replaced a smaller rig that had been sent out at least two years prior. The newer structure is fixed about 115 miles southeast of the Chinese port city of Qingdao.
Imagery captured by Austin-based SkyFi showed the three rig legs anchoring the massive structure to the floor of the Yellow Sea, estimated to be about 160 feet deep. SeaLight estimates the rig measures about 350 by 265 feet, and South Korean intelligence has estimated it towers about 160 feet over the ocean’s surface.
This photo released by China’s official Xinhua news agency shows the intelligent deep-sea farming cage Deep Blue 2, operating about 150 miles offshore in the Yellow Sea on January 12, 2025. This photo released by China’s official Xinhua news agency shows the intelligent deep-sea farming cage Deep Blue 2, operating about 150 miles offshore in the Yellow Sea on January 12, 2025. Xinhua/Li Ziheng
Also visible is a helipad, several lifeboats and a platform that could be used to service China’s
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