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 70/99 · Cable ops1999-01-24 → 1999-01-28
    Underwater cable operations 25 jan until further notice by cableship fresnel in 00-25N 104-45E
  2. HYDROPAC 67/99 · Derelicts1999-01-23 → 1999-03-12
    Submerged vessel, three masts, adrift vicinity 17-04.0N 117-39.4E at 222345Z jan
  3. HYDROPAC 33/99 · Derelicts1999-01-11 → 1999-01-23
    52 meter barge elnusa 2, black hull, adrift in 10-51N 108-48E on 08 jan
  4. HYDROPAC 12/99 · Other1999-01-05 → 1999-01-07
    Sunken fishing vessel reported in vicinity LCS-1 buoy 22-09.3N 114-12.7E
  5. HYDROPAC 1026/98 · Cable ops1998-12-29 → 1999-01-05
    Cable laying operations in progress until further notice by cableship vercors along trackline joining 18-05N…
  6. HYDROPAC 968/98 · Containers1998-12-13 → 1999-01-29
    42 containers adrift between 16-50N 113-05E and 16-10N 112-55E at 130200Z dec
  7. HYDROPAC 964/98 · Wrecks1998-12-12 → 1999-08-20
    Submerged obstruction in vicinity 09-50.8N 107-57.8E
  8. HYDROPAC 907/98 · Cable ops1998-11-25 → 1999-01-05
    Underwater cable operations 291600Z nov until further notice by M/V fresnel in vicinity of a line joining…
  9. HYDROPAC 887/98 · Containers1998-11-19 → 1999-01-01
    Two containers adrift in vicinity 23-50N 118-18E and 23-48N 118-16E at 180755Z nov
  10. HYDROPAC 886/98 · Other1998-11-18 → 1999-01-01
    Crew of M/V miyihata abandoned ship in 24-56.3N 120-36.5E at 181033Z nov
  11. HYDROPAC 591/93 · Exercises1993-07-04 → 1993-07-10
    Gunnery exercises 1100Z to 2300Z daily 07 through 09 jul in area bound by 02-30N 104-17E, 02-30N 105-30E,…

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