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 2114/14 · Cable ops2014-07-18 → 2014-08-16
    Cable operations 22 jul thru 15 aug by cableship asean explorer in 10-17.75N 107-13.82E
  2. HYDROPAC 2105/14 · Exercises2014-07-17 → 2014-08-29
    Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 1400Z commencing daily 21, 22, 28, 29 jul and 19, 20, 27, 28 aug: a. in area…
  3. HYDROPAC 2094/14 · Exercises2014-07-16 → 2014-08-31
    Gunnery exercises 0100Z to 0300Z and 0600Z to 0800Z daily 21 jul thru 31 aug: a. in area bound by 24-48N…
  4. HYDROPAC 2039/14 · Piracy2014-07-11 → 2014-07-18
    M/V reports act of piracy vicinity 01-59N 108-28E at 081900Z jul
  5. HYDROPAC 2035/14 · Surveys2014-07-10 → 2014-10-01
    Survey operations 12 jul thru 30 sep by M/V le quoc 01 in area bound by 19-23-26.5N 105-49-44.5E,…
  6. HYDROPAC 2015/14 · Cable ops2014-07-09 → 2014-10-10
    Seismic survey in progress until 09 oct by M/V voyager explorer in area bound by 16-29-19.1N 119-44-57.0E,…
  7. HYDROPAC 1966/14 · Cable ops2014-07-04 → 2014-09-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 31 aug by vessel towing six 5100 meter long cables in area bound by…
  8. HYDROPAC 1965/14 · Cable ops2014-07-04 → 2014-09-03
    Seismic survey in progress until 02 sep by vessel towing 7050 meter long cable in area bound by 21-00.5N…
  9. HYDROPAC 1964/14 · Cable ops2014-07-04 → 2014-09-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 31 aug by vessel towing 12 5400 meter long cables in area bound by 21-27.9N…
  10. HYDROPAC 1963/14 · Cable ops2014-07-04 → 2014-10-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 30 sep by vessel towing six 6000 meter long cables in area bound by 19-36N…
  11. HYDROPAC 1962/14 · Cable ops2014-07-04 → 2014-10-31
    Seismic survey in progress until 30 oct by vessel towing 5200 meter long cables in area bound by 21-48.0N…
  12. HYDROPAC 1949/14 · Wrecks2014-07-03 → 2014-12-21
    Taiwan Strait
  13. HYDROPAC 1938/14 · Piracy2014-07-02 → 2014-07-12
    M/V reports act of piracy vicinity 01-28N 104-40E at 012030Z jul
  14. HYDROPAC 1924/14 · Derelicts2014-07-02 → 2014-07-05
    Derelict F/V partially submerged and adrift in 17-49.4N 113-54.5E at 012335Z jul
  15. HYDROPAC 1919/14 · Surveys2014-07-01 → 2014-09-16
    Survey operations in progress until 15 sep by M/V bp 05-04-05 towing 250 meter long cable in area bound by…
  16. HYDROPAC 1911/14 · Piracy2014-07-01 → 2014-07-08
    M/V reports act of piracy vicinity 01-07N 103-30E at 292200Z jun
  17. HYDROPAC 1906/14 · Exercises2014-06-30 → 2014-07-01
    Gunnery exercises 010100Z to 010300Z and 010600Z to 010800Z jul: a. in area bound by 24-48N 119-50E, 24-48N…
  18. HYDROPAC 1901/14 · Derelicts2014-06-30 → 2014-07-03
    Derelict F/V, green, blue and red hull, adrift vicinity 17-56N 113-39E
  19. HYDROPAC 1877/14 · Exercises2014-06-27 → 2014-07-30
    Gunnery exercises 0530Z to 0900Z daily 02, 04, 09, 11, 14 thru 18, 22, 23, 25, 29 and 30 jul a. in area…
  20. HYDROPAC 1781/14 · Cable ops2014-06-20 → 2014-09-15
    Cable laying operations in progress until 14 sep by M/V miraero vicinity of trackline joining 07-10.9N…

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