South China Sea

IHO sea area 49 · 102° to 122° E, -3° to 26° N

in force
10
last 12 months
6
since 1993
2,321
categories
13

In force now · 10

  1. HYDROPAC 2249/26 · Surveys2026-08-06
    Survey operations by vessel PXGEO 2 towing eight 5-mile cables continue until 31 December in Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea; wide berth requested.
  2. NAVAREA XI 356/26 · Cable ops2026-08-06
    Seismic survey by vessel PXGEO 2 towing eight 5-mile cables in the southern Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea until 31 December 2026.
  3. HYDROPAC 2099/26 · Cable ops2026-07-21
    Cable operations are underway in the East China Sea by the cableship ILE DE RE until further notice; wide berth requested.
  4. NAVAREA XI 329/26 · Cable ops2026-07-21
    Cable ship Ile de Re is laying submarine cable in the Taiwan Strait until further notice.
  5. HYDROPAC 2412/25 · Wrecks2025-09-19
    Dangerous wreck in South China Sea off Vietnam at 10-22.31N 107-46.96E.
  6. NAVAREA XI 437/25 · Wrecks2025-09-19
    Sunken wreck exists in northern South China Sea at 10-22.31N 107-46.96E.
  7. NAVAREA XI 435/23 · Nav aids2023-12-04
    The Manila NAVTEX station at 14 degrees 30.3 minutes north, 121 degrees 3.9 minutes east is inoperative until further notice.
  8. NAVAREA XI 153/20 · Wrecks2020-04-06
    A yellow observation buoy is reported at 19-20.6N 113-45.9E in the northern South China Sea on 04 Apr.
  9. NAVAREA XI 664/19 · Wrecks2019-11-21
    An oil rig is reported to exist in the southern South China Sea at 07-42.1N 107-55.8E.
  10. NAVAREA XI 132/19 · Wrecks2019-03-07
    An oil rig is reported at 07-47.5N 108-12.0E in the southern South China Sea, and previous warnings are cancelled.

Longest in force

  1. NAVAREA XI 132/19 · Wrecks2019-03-07
    An oil rig is reported at 07-47.5N 108-12.0E in the southern South China Sea, and previous warnings are cancelled.
  2. NAVAREA XI 664/19 · Wrecks2019-11-21
    An oil rig is reported to exist in the southern South China Sea at 07-42.1N 107-55.8E.
  3. NAVAREA XI 153/20 · Wrecks2020-04-06
    A yellow observation buoy is reported at 19-20.6N 113-45.9E in the northern South China Sea on 04 Apr.
  4. NAVAREA XI 435/23 · Nav aids2023-12-04
    The Manila NAVTEX station at 14 degrees 30.3 minutes north, 121 degrees 3.9 minutes east is inoperative until further notice.
  5. NAVAREA XI 437/25 · Wrecks2025-09-19
    Sunken wreck exists in northern South China Sea at 10-22.31N 107-46.96E.

By year

93
98
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
25
26

By month (all years)

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

By category · since 1997

Cable ops57025%
Exercises56024%
Other30713%
Derelicts30313%
Wrecks1547%
Piracy1376%
Surveys1356%
Nav aids502%
Missiles492%
Containers352%
Debris131%
Towing70%
Volcanic10%

Archive · 2,311 cancelled

  1. HYDROPAC 1711/05 · Cable ops2005-10-11 → 2005-11-15
    Seismic survey 12 oct until further notice by M/V geco eagle towing eight three mile long cables in area…
  2. HYDROPAC 1656/05 · Cable ops2005-10-04 → 2005-11-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 31 oct by M/V nordic explorer in areas bound by: a. 05-56.5N 105-47.0E,…
  3. HYDROPAC 1585/05 · Wrecks2005-09-26 → 2006-11-15
    9.6 meter shoal in 02-00.0S 108-07.8E
  4. HYDROPAC 1576/05 · Derelicts2005-09-25 → 2005-10-02
    Derelict 108.6 meter M/V pacific rainbow adrift vicinity 17-23.1N 113-56.7E at 240330Z sep
  5. HYDROPAC 1567/05 · Cable ops2005-09-23 → 2005-10-05
    Seismic survey in progress until 23 oct by M/V nordic explorer towing six four mile long cables in area…
  6. HYDROPAC 1554/05 · Derelicts2005-09-22 → 2005-09-25
    Derelict 109 meter M/V pacific rainbow, adrift vicinity 17-31N 113-44E at 220850Z sep
  7. HYDROPAC 1544/05 · Surveys2005-09-21 → 2005-10-25
    Siesmic survey in progress until 30 oct by M/V nan hai 502 in area bound by 08-55N 117-00E, 08-55N 112-45E,…
  8. HYDROPAC 1523/05 · Derelicts2005-09-18 → 2005-09-19
    Derelict F/V adrift vicinity 13-12N 110-17E at 171720Z sep
  9. HYDROPAC 1520/05 · Derelicts2005-09-17 → 2005-09-24
    Derelict F/V adrift vicinity 13-12N 110-17E
  10. HYDROPAC 1497/05 · Wrecks2005-09-14 → 2005-09-26
    4.6 meter shoal in 02-00.0S 108-07.8E
  11. HYDROPAC 1476/05 · Cable ops2005-09-11 → 2005-10-05
    Seismic survey in progress until 23 sep by M/V nordic explorer towing six four mile long cables in area…
  12. HYDROPAC 1470/05 · Cable ops2005-09-09 → 2005-09-11
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V nordic explorer towing six four mile long cables in…
  13. HYDROPAC 1419/05 · Derelicts2005-09-01 → 2005-09-08
    230 foot M/V moaddeli adrift in 19-48N 119-07E at 312220Z aug
  14. HYDROPAC 1370/05 · Cable ops2005-08-24 → 2005-09-01
    Cable operations in progress until 31 aug by cableship cable retriever vicinity 05-39.1N 103-39.6E
  15. HYDROPAC 1336/05 · Surveys2005-08-19 → 2005-10-01
    Survey operations in progress until 30 sept by M/V geo surveyor towing 1500 meter long cable in area bound…
  16. HYDROLANT 1515/05 · Surveys2005-08-19 → 2005-08-19
    Survey operations in progress until 30 sept by M/V geo surveyor towing 1500 meter long cable in area bound…
  17. HYDROPAC 1326/05 · Wrecks2005-08-15 → 2005-08-16
    Dangerous wreck in 01-25.36N 104-29-.40E marked by isolated danger buoy, fl (2) w 5 sec RACON (d) 01-25.14N…
  18. HYDROPAC 1308/05 · Derelicts2005-08-12 → 2005-09-28
    F/V, white hull, disabled and taking on water in 03-05.5N 105-15.6E
  19. HYDROPAC 1299/05 · Cable ops2005-08-11 → 2005-08-24
    Cable operations in progress until 23 aug by cableship cable retriever vicinity 05-19.4N 103-48.8E
  20. HYDROPAC 1298/05 · Cable ops2005-08-11 → 2005-08-21
    Cable operations in progress until 20 aug by cableship lodbrog vicinity 14-26.7N 119-50.8E

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