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 3141/17 · Surveys2017-09-13 → 2017-09-16
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  2. HYDROPAC 3130/17 · Other2017-09-13 → 2017-09-19
    Five persons overboard from M/V kartika segara and M/V jbb de rong 19 in vicinity 01-00N 104-00E
  3. HYDROPAC 3090/17 · Surveys2017-09-10 → 2017-09-11
    Survey operations in progress until 112200Z sep by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in area…
  4. HYDROPAC 3085/17 · Piracy2017-09-09 → 2017-09-16
    M/V attacked in 02-03.6N 104-59.3E at 071910Z sep
  5. HYDROPAC 3068/17 · Piracy2017-09-08 → 2017-09-15
    M/V attacked in 05-38.3N 103-11.8E at 060700Z sep
  6. HYDROPAC 3065/17 · Piracy2017-09-08 → 2017-09-08
    M/V attacked in 05-08.3N 103-11.8E at 060700Z sep
  7. HYDROPAC 3057/17 · Surveys2017-09-07 → 2017-09-13
    Underwater operations in progress until 12 sep by M/V visal 8 in 10-20N 107-47E wide berth requested
  8. HYDROPAC 3001/17 · Surveys2017-09-03 → 2017-09-10
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  9. HYDROPAC 2974/17 · Surveys2017-08-31 → 2017-09-03
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  10. HYDROPAC 2944/17 · Surveys2017-08-29 → 2017-08-31
    Cancel HYDROPAC 2911/17
  11. HYDROPAC 2911/17 · Surveys2017-08-27 → 2017-08-29
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  12. HYDROPAC 2903/17 · Surveys2017-08-26 → 2017-08-27
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  13. HYDROPAC 2861/17 · Exercises2017-08-23 → 2017-08-25
    Gunnery exercises: a. 262100Z to 270500Z aug, alternate 272100Z to 280500Z aug in area bound by 10-02N…
  14. HYDROPAC 2843/17 · Derelicts2017-08-22 → 2017-08-25
    Derelict 190 meter M/V yangtze harmony adrift in 10-18.9N 110-49.9E at 211217Z aug
  15. HYDROPAC 2840/17 · Derelicts2017-08-22 → 2017-08-22
    M/V yangtze harmony adrift in 10-18.9N 110-49.9E at 211217Z aug
  16. HYDROPAC 2827/17 · Derelicts2017-08-20 → 2017-08-22
    Derelict 190 meter M/V yangtze harmony adrift in 10-24.76N 110-29.51E at 201400Z aug
  17. HYDROPAC 2824/17 · Surveys2017-08-20 → 2017-08-26
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  18. HYDROPAC 2796/17 · Surveys2017-08-17 → 2017-08-20
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V pgs apollo towing ten five mile long cables in…
  19. HYDROPAC 2784/17 · Derelicts2017-08-17 → 2017-09-01
    South china sea DNC 11, DNC 23
  20. HYDROPAC 2783/17 · Piracy2017-08-17 → 2017-08-24
    M/V attacked in 14-33.9N 120-55.6E at 152050Z aug

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