Gulf of Guinea

IHO sea area 34 · -8° to 10° E, -1° to 7° N

in force
4
last 12 months
6
archive messages
662
categories
15

What the archive shows

662 messages are recorded since 1980-01-17 for the Gulf of Guinea. The selection uses the IHO sea area; a message may describe an exercise, equipment outage or continuing operation as well as a hazard report.

Piracy accounts for 290 of 662 recorded messages (44%), the largest category group in this selection.

The NGA historical archive froze in 2024-05; live collection began 2026-08-17. Counts around that gap are incomplete, and changes in reporting volume do not establish changes in incident frequency.

In force now · 4

  1. NAVAREA II 316/26 · Surveys2026-09-04
    A list gives last known positions of rigs and drill ships in the Gulf of Guinea, Pointe Noire and Sierra Leone at 040430 UTC Sep 26.
  2. NAVAREA II 257/26 · Nav aids2026-06-20
    In the Gulf of Guinea, IMD1 at 03-57.22N 007-46.53E and Calm Buoy at 04-01.31N 007-48.18E are unlit; navigate with caution.
  3. HYDROLANT 986/26 · Wrecks2026-05-21
    A dangerous wreck is located in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria at 04-18.50N 007-02.20E.
  4. NAVAREA II 215/26 · Wrecks2026-05-21
    A dangerous wreck is reported in the Gulf of Guinea at 04-18.50N 007-02.20E. Navigate with caution and at reduced speed.

Longest in force

  1. NAVAREA II 215/26 · Wrecks2026-05-21
    A dangerous wreck is reported in the Gulf of Guinea at 04-18.50N 007-02.20E. Navigate with caution and at reduced speed.
  2. HYDROLANT 986/26 · Wrecks2026-05-21
    A dangerous wreck is located in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria at 04-18.50N 007-02.20E.
  3. NAVAREA II 257/26 · Nav aids2026-06-20
    In the Gulf of Guinea, IMD1 at 03-57.22N 007-46.53E and Calm Buoy at 04-01.31N 007-48.18E are unlit; navigate with caution.
  4. NAVAREA II 316/26 · Surveys2026-09-04
    A list gives last known positions of rigs and drill ships in the Gulf of Guinea, Pointe Noire and Sierra Leone at 040430 UTC Sep 26.

By year

80
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
26

By month (all years)

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

By category · available archive

Piracy29044%
Cable ops17526%
Surveys6710%
Incidents528%
Exercises254%
Wrecks162%
Other102%
Nav aids71%
Derelicts61%
Missiles61%
Debris30%
Spills20%
Volcanic10%
Restricted10%
Quakes10%

Ports on this sea · 51

Busiest first by annual vessel calls (IMF PortWatch); each port page shows the warnings within 60 nm, its World Port Index profile and monthly port calls.

All 51 ports on the Gulf of Guinea →

Archive · 658 cancelled

  1. NAVAREA II 308/26 · Surveys2026-08-25 → 2026-09-04
    Offshore drilling rig Valaris Renaissance at 04-56.47 North 004-30.37 West in the Gulf of Guinea requests a wide berth.
  2. NAVAREA II 299/26 · Surveys2026-08-09 → 2026-09-04
    A list of mobile oil rigs and drill ships in the Gulf of Guinea, Pointe Noire, Sierra Leone, is provided as of August 26, 0916 UTC.
  3. HYDROLANT 950/24 · Cable ops2024-05-04 → 2026-08-14
    Cable operations are in progress by cableship Ile de Sein along a trackline in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria; wide berth requested.
  4. HYDROLANT 887/24 · Cable ops2024-04-26 → 2024-05-03
    Cable operations until 02 may by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 04-49.10N 002-51.80E,…
  5. HYDROLANT 886/24 · Cable ops2024-04-26 → 2024-04-26
    Cable operations in progress until 02 may by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 04-49.10N…
  6. HYDROLANT 813/24 · Cable ops2024-04-17 → 2024-04-23
    Cable operations in progress until 22 apr by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 02-12.61N…
  7. HYDROLANT 792/24 · Surveys2024-04-14 → 2024-04-23
    Survey operations in progress until 22 apr by M/V borda in area bound by 03-44.80N 009-21.70E, 03-52.20N…
  8. HYDROLANT 737/24 · Cable ops2024-04-08 → 2024-04-14
    Cable operations in progress until further notice by cableship leon thevenin in area bound by 05-01.10N…
  9. HYDROLANT 729/24 · Cable ops2024-04-07 → 2024-04-08
    Cable operations 071000Z apr until further notice by cableship leon thevenin in area bound by 05-01.10N…
  10. HYDROLANT 710/24 · Cable ops2024-04-05 → 2024-04-16
    Cable operations 06 apr until further notice by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 03-14.80N…
  11. HYDROLANT 694/24 · Surveys2024-04-03 → 2024-04-10
    Survey operations in progress until 09 apr by M/V borda in area bound by 03-44.8N 009-21.7E, 03-52.2N…
  12. HYDROLANT 633/24 · Cable ops2024-03-27 → 2024-04-07
    Cable operations 291200Z mar until further notice by cableship leon thevenin in area bound by 04-12.00N…
  13. HYDROLANT 616/24 · Surveys2024-03-24 → 2024-05-16
    Survey operations 27 mar thru 15 may by M/V rem saltire and M/V bgp dragon in area bound by 03-06.80N…
  14. HYDROLANT 605/24 · Cable ops2024-03-22 → 2024-03-27
    Cable operations in progress until further notice by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 06-24.00N…
  15. HYDROLANT 412/24 · Cable ops2024-02-28 → 2024-03-10
    Cable operations in progress until further notice by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 01-28.20N…
  16. HYDROLANT 355/24 · Cable ops2024-02-20 → 2024-02-28
    Cable operations in progress until further notice by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 00-24.40N…
  17. HYDROLANT 299/24 · Cable ops2024-02-11 → 2024-02-20
    Cable operations in progress until further notice by cableship ile de sein along trackline joining 00-28.70N…
  18. HYDROLANT 280/24 · Surveys2024-02-09 → 2024-03-27
    Survey operations 12 feb thru 26 mar by M/V bgp dragon and M/V rem saltire in area bound by 03-17.54N…
  19. HYDROLANT 2831/23 · Surveys2023-12-07 → 2024-01-11
    Survey operations 10 dec thru 15 jan 24 by M/V apollo, M/V vanguard and M/V thor freyja in areas bound by:…
  20. HYDROLANT 2602/23 · Surveys2023-11-14 → 2023-12-10
    Survey operations 17 nov thru 09 dec by M/V vanguard and M/V thor freyja in area bound by 03-14.94N…

Sea boundaries: Flanders Marine Institute (2018), IHO Sea Areas v3, marineregions.org (CC BY 4.0). Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA / coastal broadcasts.