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 873/02 · Exercises2002-05-10 → 2002-05-17
    Gunnery exercises 15 and 16 may vicinity 14-17N 120-08E
  2. HYDROPAC 867/02 · Derelicts2002-05-09 → 2002-06-22
    M/V gas aries disabled and adrift due to engine causuality vicinity 11-04N 112-35E
  3. HYDROPAC 827/02 · Cable ops2002-05-02 → 2002-05-24
    Seismic survey in progress until 23 may by M/V orient explorer towing four 4500 meter long cables in area…
  4. HYDROPAC 735/02 · Cable ops2002-04-20 → 2002-09-17
    Seismic survey 25 apr until further notice by M/V ramform challenger towing 5000 meter long cable in area…
  5. HYDROPAC 734/02 · Cable ops2002-04-20 → 2002-04-20
    Seismic survey 25 apr until further notice by M/V ramform challenger towing five meter long cable in area…
  6. HYDROPAC 589/02 · Other2002-03-28 → 2002-07-21
    Pipelaying operations in progress until 20 jul by barge semac I vicinity of trackline joining 07-34.8N…
  7. HYDROPAC 574/02 · Other2002-03-26 → 2002-03-28
    Pipelaying operations in progress until further notice by barge semacl vicinity 07-36.3N 108-51.6E
  8. HYDROPAC 573/02 · Cable ops2002-03-26 → 2002-05-02
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V orient explorer towing four 4500 meter long cables in…
  9. HYDROPAC 544/02 · Cable ops2002-03-24 → 2002-04-20
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V ramform challenger towing 3.5 mile long cable in area…
  10. HYDROPAC 511/02 · Cable ops2002-03-20 → 2002-03-25
    Submarine cable operations in progress until 27 mar by cableship kdd ocean link in area bound by 20-06.5N…
  11. HYDROPAC 466/02 · Cable ops2002-03-15 → 2002-03-20
    Submarine cable operations in progress until 22 mar by cableship kdd ocean link in area bound by 20-06.5N…
  12. HYDROPAC 405/02 · Cable ops2002-03-06 → 2002-03-15
    Submarine cable operations 11 thru 17 mar by cableship kdd ocean link in area bound by 20-06.5N 121-42.5E,…
  13. HYDROPAC 325/02 · Cable ops2002-02-21 → 2002-03-21
    Cable laying operations in progress until 20 mar vicinity of trackline joining 21-52N 114-06E, 21-46N…
  14. HYDROPAC 269/02 · Derelicts2002-02-13 → 2002-02-19
    Derelict vessel, white hull, adrift vicinity 12-43.4N 113-57.2E at 122245Z feb
  15. HYDROPAC 210/02 · Wrecks2002-02-02 → 2002-02-02
    Dangerous wreck in 08-41.0N 105-33.7E
  16. HYDROPAC 207/02 · Wrecks2002-02-01 → 2003-08-02
    Dangerous wreck in 08-41.0N 105-33.7E
  17. HYDROPAC 103/02 · Cable ops2002-01-16 → 2002-02-11
    Submarine cable operations 17 jan thru 10 feb by cableship bold endurance vicinity of trackline joining…
  18. HYDROPAC 51/02 · Other2002-01-08 → 2002-02-17
    A traffic separation scheme and vessel traffic service have been temporarily established until 16 feb as…
  19. HYDROPAC 40/02 · Nav aids2002-01-07 → 2002-01-22
    Phillip channel buoy 01-03.6N 103-38.9E unlit and RACON off air
  20. HYDROPAC 25/02 · Cable ops2002-01-05 → 2002-01-11
    Underwater pipeline operations in progress until 15 apr in area bound by 19-37.5N 112-07.0E, 19-40.0N…

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