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 573/01 · Cable ops2001-04-17 → 2001-07-05
    Seismic survey 19 apr until further notice by M/V ramform challenger towing three mile long cable in area…
  2. HYDROPAC 517/01 · Cable ops2001-04-06 → 2001-10-01
    Cable laying operations in progress until 30 sep by vessel vicinity of tracklines: a. joining 23-13.3N…
  3. HYDROPAC 512/01 · Derelicts2001-04-05 → 2001-04-12
    Derelict vessel, partially submerged and adrift vicinity 07-44.9N 108-54.5E at 050940Z apr
  4. HYDROPAC 507/01 · Cable ops2001-04-04 → 2001-05-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 30 apr by M/V geco beta towing two mile long cable in area bound by 20-50N…
  5. HYDROPAC 291/01 · Cable ops2001-02-21 → 2001-07-13
    Cable laying operations in progress until further notice by cableship asean restorer in 01-22N 104-24E
  6. HYDROPAC 229/01 · Nav aids2001-02-13 → 2001-02-19
    Takong buoy 01-05.8N 103-43.7E missing
  7. HYDROPAC 228/01 · Nav aids2001-02-13 → 2001-02-19
    Durain strait south buoy 01-03N 103-39E unlit
  8. HYDROPAC 154/01 · Cable ops2001-01-30 → 2001-04-17
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V ramform challenger towing four mile long cable in…
  9. HYDROPAC 151/01 · Cable ops2001-01-30 → 2001-11-09
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V ramform viking towing four mile long cable in area…
  10. HYDROPAC 91/01 · Derelicts2001-01-18 → 2001-01-25
    Derelict 21 foot vessel, white hull, adrift in 18-34N 118-43E at 180455Z jan
  11. HYDROPAC 36/01 · Derelicts2001-01-08 → 2001-01-09
    Derelict M/V jia ding guan partially submerged and adrift vicinity 20-49.9N 113-44.8E
  12. HYDROPAC 1867/00 · Other2000-12-31 → 2001-01-01
    F/V quiong hai 5069 sunk in 17-48N 110-58E at 310030Z dec
  13. HYDROPAC 1858/00 · Other2000-12-30 → 2001-01-02
    M/V san hang tuo reports injured crewman in 14-14.9N 114-40.9E
  14. HYDROPAC 1852/00 · Derelicts2000-12-28 → 2000-01-02
    Derelict 110 meter M/V jia ding guan adrift vicinity 20-53.4N 114-12.5E at 281341Z dec
  15. HYDROPAC 1837/00 · Derelicts2000-12-25 → 2001-01-01
    Derelict M/V melati adrift in 07-51N 108-40E at 250910Z dec
  16. HYDROPAC 1835/00 · Derelicts2000-12-25 → 2000-12-25
    Derelict M/V melati adrift in 07-15N 108-14E at 250630Z dec
  17. HYDROPAC 1808/00 · Cable ops2000-12-21 → 2001-02-05
    Cable laying operations in progress until 04 feb by cableship vicinity of tracklines joining: a. 22-17N…
  18. HYDROPAC 1765/00 · Derelicts2000-12-12 → 2000-12-19
    Derelict 88 meter barge gasindo 15 adrift in area bound by 17-30N 112-00E, 16-00N 110-00E, 12-30N 115-30E,…
  19. HYDROPAC 1648/00 · Towing2000-11-10 → 2000-12-22
    20 meter tug peramah, blue hull, towing 68 meter barge rebas jaya tiga, black hull, unreported my tho to sibu
  20. HYDROPAC 1643/00 · Derelicts2000-11-09 → 2000-11-16
    Barge adrift vicinity 25-05N 120-25E at 082300Z nov

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