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 2290/15 · Other2015-07-11 → 2015-07-14
    South china sea
  2. HYDROPAC 2253/15 · Other2015-07-08 → 2015-07-15
    Pipelaying operations in progress until 14 jul by M/V sapura kencana 2000 vicinity of trackline between…
  3. HYDROPAC 2252/15 · Other2015-07-08 → 2015-08-01
    Pipelaying operations in progress until 31 jul by M/V havila harmony vicinity of trackline between 07-07.3N…
  4. HYDROPAC 2208/15 · Other2015-07-03 → 2015-08-01
    Offshore facilities under construction until 31 jul in: a. 06-57.3N 103-27.1E
  5. HYDROPAC 2201/15 · Cable ops2015-07-02 → 2015-09-01
    Cable repair operations in progress until 31 aug vicinity of tracklines between: a. 26-19-22.5N 120-14-23.9E…
  6. HYDROPAC 2157/15 · Exercises2015-06-27 → 2015-07-05
    Hazardous operations
  7. HYDROPAC 2144/15 · Cable ops2015-06-27 → 2015-08-18
    Seismic survey in progress until 28 aug by M/V cgg amadeus towing eight 6000 meter long cables in area bound…
  8. HYDROPAC 2139/15 · Exercises2015-06-26 → 2015-07-31
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 01 thru 03, 06 thru 10, 13 thru 15, 17, 20 thru 24 and 28 thru 31…
  9. HYDROPAC 2058/15 · Surveys2015-06-22 → 2015-11-01
    Survey operations in progress until 31 oct by M/V nor tigerfsh, M/V vos artemis, M/V mermaid vigiance, M/V…
  10. HYDROPAC 2056/15 · Exercises2015-06-22 → 2015-07-02
    Torpedo firing exercises 27 jun thru 01 jul in area bound by 11-36.54N 109-17.00E, 11-55.54N 109-23.00E,…
  11. HYDROPAC 2055/15 · Exercises2015-06-22 → 2015-06-25
    Gunnery exercises 2330Z to 1000Z commencing daily 21 and 22 jun, alternate 2330Z to 1000Z 23 and 24 jun in…
  12. HYDROPAC 2047/15 · Wrecks2015-06-22 → 2015-06-23
    Dangerous wreck in 20-46-13.7N 106-51-13.1E
  13. HYDROPAC 2001/15 · Exercises2015-06-19 → 2015-06-24
    Hazardous operations
  14. HYDROPAC 1963/15 · Exercises2015-06-16 → 2015-06-22
    Hazardous operations
  15. HYDROPAC 1924/15 · Piracy2015-06-12 → 2015-06-20
    7300 ton M/V orkim harmony, black and red hull, unreported singapore (01-03N 103-48E) to kuantan (03-49N…
  16. HYDROPAC 1877/15 · Cable ops2015-06-09 → 2015-07-26
    Seismic survey in progress until 25 jul by M/V pgs apollo towing 12 five mile long cables in area bound by…
  17. HYDROPAC 1836/15 · Cable ops2015-06-05 → 2015-07-11
    Cable operations 06 jun thru 10 jul by cableship cable retriever in area bound by 09-32-34.2N 108-35-00.0E,…
  18. HYDROPAC 1830/15 · Exercises2015-06-05 → 2015-07-31
    Gunnery exercises 0100Z to 0300Z and 0600Z to 0800Z daily 08 thru 12, 15 thru 18, 22 thru 26 jun, 01 thru…
  19. HYDROPAC 1829/15 · Piracy2015-06-05 → 2015-06-06
    M/V hijacked in 02-21N 104-22E at 031715Z jun
  20. HYDROPAC 1813/15 · Other2015-06-03 → 2015-08-31
    Pipelaying operations in progress 08 jun thru 30 aug in area bound by 10-01-03N 107-58-40E, 09-59-05N…

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