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%

Archive · 658 cancelled

  1. HYDROLANT 572/14 · Cable ops2014-02-24 → 2014-03-12
    Seismic survey 25 feb thru 14 mar by M/V bgp prospector towing ten four mile long cables in area bound by…
  2. HYDROLANT 504/14 · Piracy2014-02-19 → 2014-02-22
    M/V attacked in 03-52N 005-13E at 190340Z feb
  3. HYDROLANT 489/14 · Cable ops2014-02-17 → 2014-05-31
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V geco triton towing 12 7000 meter long cables in area…
  4. HYDROLANT 436/14 · Cable ops2014-02-12 → 2014-05-02
    Seismic survey 14 feb thru 01 may by M/V tasman towing 12 6000 meter long cables in area bound by 03-25.1N…
  5. HYDROLANT 400/14 · Surveys2014-02-08 → 2014-03-21
    Nigeria
  6. HYDROLANT 374/14 · Piracy2014-02-06 → 2014-02-22
    M/V attacked in 03-45N 006-24E at 052344Z feb
  7. HYDROLANT 209/14 · Cable ops2014-01-22 → 2014-01-25
    Seismic survey 23 jan thru 24 mar by M/V bgp prospector in area bound by 03-13.0N 008-04.5E, 03-13.0N…
  8. HYDROLANT 87/14 · Cable ops2014-01-09 → 2014-04-19
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V oceanic phoenix towing 12 10000 meter long cables in…
  9. HYDROLANT 3143/13 · Cable ops2013-12-06 → 2014-01-17
    Seismic survey in progress until 050001Z feb 14 by M/V bgp prospector towing eight five mile long cables in…
  10. HYDROLANT 3087/13 · Cable ops2013-12-02 → 2014-01-17
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V ramform challenger towing 12 7500 meter long cables…
  11. HYDROLANT 3034/13 · Cable ops2013-11-28 → 2014-03-01
    Seismic survey 01 dec thru 31 mar 14 by M/V ramform viking in areas bound by: a. 04-11.36N 003-12.59W,…
  12. HYDROLANT 2999/13 · Cable ops2013-11-25 → 2013-12-04
    Seismic survey 250001Z nov to 032359Z dec by M/V bgp prospector towing eight five mile long cables in area…
  13. HYDROLANT 2990/13 · Cable ops2013-11-25 → 2014-01-23
    Seismic survey 20 nov thru 31 jan 14 by M/V wg tasman towing ten 8000 meter long cables in area bound by…
  14. HYDROLANT 2986/13 · Cable ops2013-11-24 → 2013-11-25
    Seismic survey 25 nov thru 25 jan 14 by M/V bgp prospector towing eight five mile long cables in area bound…
  15. HYDROLANT 2985/13 · Cable ops2013-11-24 → 2013-12-03
    Cable repair operations 242000Z nov until further notice by cableship peter faber vicinity 05-04.6N 003-58.3W
  16. HYDROLANT 2924/13 · Cable ops2013-11-19 → 2013-11-25
    Seismic survey 20 nov thru 31 jan 14 by M/V tasman towing six 3200 meter long cables in area bound by…
  17. HYDROLANT 2582/13 · Surveys2013-10-17 → 2013-12-07
    Underwater operations in progress until further notice by M/V saipem in 03-05.3N 006-05.5E
  18. HYDROLANT 2479/13 · Cable ops2013-10-08 → 2013-11-21
    Seismic survey 100001Z oct to 210100Z nov by M/V bgp prospector towing 12 four mile long cables in area…
  19. HYDROLANT 2209/13 · Surveys2013-09-09 → 2013-12-05
    Underwater operations 100001Z sep until further notice by M/V scoot spirit within 500 meters of 03-29.59N…
  20. HYDROLANT 2169/13 · Piracy2013-09-05 → 2013-09-14
    M/V attacked in 04-11.07N 005-34.43E at 041415Z sep

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