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 3040/16 · Exercises2016-10-05 → 2016-10-07
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 1400Z daily 05 and 06 oct and 070400Z to 071400Z oct: a. in area between…
  2. HYDROPAC 2985/16 · Exercises2016-09-30 → 2016-10-31
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 03 thru 07, 11 thru 14, 17 thru 21, 24 thru 28 and 31 oct: a. in area…
  3. HYDROPAC 2984/16 · Exercises2016-09-30 → 2016-10-31
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 03, 05, 07, 12, 14, 21, 28 and 31 oct, 0001Z to 1400Z daily 04, 06,…
  4. HYDROPAC 2950/16 · Piracy2016-09-28 → 2016-10-12
    M/V reports act of piracy in 10-15.3N 107-01.0E at 261920Z sep
  5. HYDROPAC 2905/16 · Other2016-09-23 → 2016-09-23
    F/V qng 94358-TS reports crewman requiring medical assistance in 17-00N 109-00E at 230700Z sep
  6. HYDROPAC 2881/16 · Exercises2016-09-21 → 2016-10-14
    Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 0400Z commencing daily 25 thru 29 sep and 02 thru 13 oct, 0500Z to 0900Z daily 26…
  7. HYDROPAC 2869/16 · Exercises2016-09-20 → 2016-09-29
    Hazardous operations
  8. HYDROPAC 2866/16 · Cable ops2016-09-20 → 2017-01-30
    Cable operations 25 sep thru 24 jan 17, alternate 25 jan thru 03 feb 17 by M/V kddi pacific link vicinity of…
  9. HYDROPAC 2798/16 · Exercises2016-09-14 → 2016-10-14
    Gunnery exercises, 2300Z to 0400Z commencing daily 18 thru 22 sep and 02 thru 13 oct, 0500Z to 0900Z daily…
  10. HYDROPAC 2797/16 · Exercises2016-09-14 → 2016-10-15
    Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 0400Z commencing daily 18 thru 22, 25 thru 29 sep and 02 thru 13 oct, 0500Z to…
  11. HYDROPAC 2788/16 · Exercises2016-09-14 → 2016-09-30
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 19, 21, 23, 26 and 30 sep, 0001Z to 1400Z daily 20, 22 and 27 thru 29…
  12. HYDROPAC 2787/16 · Exercises2016-09-14 → 2016-09-28
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 17 thru 21 and 24 thru 28 sep: a. in area between 23-29-54N 23-39-54N…
  13. HYDROPAC 2742/16 · Exercises2016-09-10 → 2016-09-15
    Hazardous operations
  14. HYDROPAC 2649/16 · Exercises2016-09-02 → 2016-09-30
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 05, 07, 09, 12, 19, 21, 23, 26 and 30 sep, 0001Z to 1400Z daily 06,…
  15. HYDROPAC 2587/16 · Exercises2016-08-26 → 2016-09-30
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 01, 02, 05 thru 09, 12 thru 14, 19 thru 23 and 26 thru 30 sep: a. in…
  16. HYDROPAC 2557/16 · Wrecks2016-08-24 → 2016-08-25
    Dangerous wreck in 11-07.5N 108-54.3E
  17. HYDROPAC 2556/16 · Other2016-08-24 → 2016-08-25
    Navigation prohibited 240100Z to 251700Z aug in area bound by 10-14.5N 107-04.5E, 10-22.0N 107-11.0E,…
  18. HYDROPAC 2520/16 · Derelicts2016-08-20 → 2016-08-21
    F/V nt 90755 ts disabled and adrift in 09-56N 109-07E at 200740Z aug
  19. HYDROPAC 2518/16 · Other2016-08-20 → 2016-08-22
    F/V qng 96569-TS reports two crewmen requiring medical assistance in 15-50N 114-12E at 201000Z aug
  20. HYDROPAC 2482/16 · Piracy2016-08-18 → 2016-08-21
    Vessel reports act of piracy in 02-20.9N 104-56.1E on 18 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.