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 1368/14 · Wrecks2014-05-12 → 2018-09-07
    Cancel HYDROPAC 1367/14, persons rescued
  2. HYDROPAC 1342/14 · Cable ops2014-05-09 → 2014-07-11
    Seismic survey 10 may thru 10 jul by M/V amadeus in area bound by 10-39.13N 108-54-21E, 10-06.12N…
  3. HYDROPAC 1324/14 · Piracy2014-05-08 → 2014-05-17
    M/V reports act of piracy vicinity 01-28.7N 104-40.0E at 061941Z may
  4. HYDROPAC 1300/14 · Derelicts2014-05-05 → 2014-05-08
    Derelict 20 meter vessel, white and orange hull, partially submerged and adrift in 07-28.0N 108-24.4E at…
  5. HYDROPAC 1264/14 · Piracy2014-05-02 → 2014-05-09
    M/V reports act of piracy vicinity 01-29.4N 104-47.5E at 302230Z apr
  6. HYDROPAC 1254/14 · Exercises2014-05-01 → 2014-05-10
    Gunnery exercises 092300Z to 100900Z may in area bound by 14-43.8N 119-55.5E, 14-24.1N 119-55.5E, 14-23.1N…
  7. HYDROPAC 1219/14 · Other2014-04-28 → 2014-10-31
    Pipelaying operations in progress until 30 oct vicinity of trackline joining 20-14.9N 114-54.0E, 19-54.7N…
  8. HYDROPAC 1218/14 · Surveys2014-04-28 → 2014-05-01
    Underwater operations in progress until 30 apr in area bound by 17-59.7N 111-57.5E, 17-53.6N 112-01.4E,…
  9. HYDROPAC 1217/14 · Cable ops2014-04-28 → 2014-06-16
    Seismic survey in progress until 15 jun by vessel towing twelve 6000 meter long cables in area bound by…
  10. HYDROPAC 1207/14 · Cable ops2014-04-27 → 2014-06-16
    Seismic survey 01 may thru 15 jun by M/V veritas viking II in area bound by 12-56.0N 110-04.0E, 13-12.7N…
  11. HYDROPAC 1198/14 · Cable ops2014-04-26 → 2014-04-27
    Seismic survey 01 may thru 15 jun by M/V veritas viking II in area bound by 12-55.97N 110-03.96E, 13-12.71N…
  12. HYDROPAC 1192/14 · Derelicts2014-04-26 → 2014-04-26
    S/V anna barbara disabled and adrift in 09-30.0N 109-00.6E
  13. HYDROPAC 1187/14 · Exercises2014-04-26 → 2014-05-30
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 01, 02, 05 thru 09, 12 thru 23 and 26 thru 30 may: a. in area between…
  14. HYDROPAC 1121/14 · Other2014-04-19 → 2014-04-19
    F/V qng 95999-TS reports crewman requiring medical assistance in 15-30N 110-50E at 190001Z apr
  15. HYDROPAC 1031/14 · Other2014-04-11 → 2014-04-12
    F/V py 96256-TS reports crewman requiring medical assistance in 13-50N 114-40E at 111900Z apr
  16. HYDROPAC 1003/14 · Derelicts2014-04-09 → 2014-04-12
    Derelict nine meter M/V mizukaze adrift vicinity 21-22N 119-12E at 090330Z apr
  17. HYDROPAC 997/14 · Cable ops2014-04-08 → 2014-05-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 30 apr by vessel towing 6000 meter long cable in area bound by 18-55.0N…
  18. HYDROPAC 948/14 · Other2014-04-04 → 2014-04-05
    F/V dna 90255-TS reports injured crewman requiring medical assistance in 17-45N 114-08E at 020400Z apr
  19. HYDROPAC 941/14 · Cable ops2014-04-03 → 2014-04-12
    Cable laying operations by cableship subaru and M/V vega in progress until 11 apr vicinity of trackline…
  20. HYDROPAC 936/14 · Piracy2014-04-03 → 2014-04-05
    M/V reports act of piracy vicinity 01-06N 103-34E at 302205Z mar

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