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 2500/12 · Cable ops2012-08-31 → 2012-12-01
    Seismic survey in progress until 30 nov by vessel towing six 6000 meter long cables in area bound by 17-24N…
  2. HYDROPAC 2485/12 · Exercises2012-08-30 → 2012-09-21
    Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 0430Z commencing daily 03 thru 20 sep and 0530Z to 0930Z daily 04 thru 21 sep: a.…
  3. HYDROPAC 2482/12 · Exercises2012-08-30 → 2012-09-07
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0800Z daily 04 thru 07 sep: a. in area bound by 25-48.0N 120-48.0E, 25-48.0N…
  4. HYDROPAC 2480/12 · Exercises2012-08-29 → 2012-09-28
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 03 thru 07, 10 thru 14, 17 thru 21 and 24 thru 28 sep: a. in area…
  5. HYDROPAC 2478/12 · Exercises2012-08-29 → 2012-09-28
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 03, 04, 06, 07, 13, 14, 17, 19 thru 21, 24, 27 and 28 sep, 0001Z to…
  6. HYDROPAC 2377/12 · Exercises2012-08-20 → 2012-09-21
    Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 0430Z commencing daily 19 thru 23, 26 thru 30 aug, 02 thru 20 sep and 0530Z to…
  7. HYDROPAC 2349/12 · Derelicts2012-08-17 → 2012-09-01
    F/V qb 92760 disabled and adrift in 18-47N 107-17E
  8. HYDROPAC 2246/12 · Exercises2012-08-08 → 2012-08-22
    Gunnery exercises in progress until 081400Z aug, alternate 2300Z to 1400Z commencing daily 20 and 21 aug: a.…
  9. HYDROPAC 2176/12 · Cable ops2012-07-31 → 2012-08-27
    Seismic survey in progress until 20 sep by M/V cgg amadeus in area bound by 20-29-05N 106-57-45E, 20-29-05N…
  10. HYDROPAC 2162/12 · Cable ops2012-07-29 → 2012-08-21
    Seismic survey in progress until 20 aug by M/V viking II towing eight 7000 meter long cables in area bound…
  11. HYDROPAC 2159/12 · Cable ops2012-07-29 → 2012-07-29
    Seismic survey in progress until further notice by M/V viking II in area bound by 21-21.0N 115-03.0E,…
  12. HYDROPAC 2146/12 · Exercises2012-07-27 → 2012-08-31
    Gunnery exercises 0100Z to 0900Z daily 01, 06, 13, 20 and 27 thru 29 aug, 0001Z to 0900Z daily 02, 03, 07…
  13. HYDROPAC 2145/12 · Exercises2012-07-27 → 2012-08-17
    Gunnery exercises 2300Z to 1000Z commencing daily 31 jul thru 16 aug: a. in area bound by 24-48N 119-50E…
  14. HYDROPAC 2144/12 · Exercises2012-07-27 → 2012-08-31
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0900Z daily 01 thru 03, 06 thru 10, 13 thru 17, 20 thru 24 and 27 thru 31 aug: a.…
  15. HYDROPAC 2126/12 · Exercises2012-07-26 → 2012-07-26
    Gunnery exercises in progress until 261400Z jul: a. in area between 22-34.9N 22-54.9N and 119-25.5E 119-45.5E
  16. HYDROPAC 2120/12 · Exercises2012-07-25 → 2012-08-17
    Gunnery exercises 0001Z to 0800Z daily 30, 31 jul and 01 thru 17 aug: a. in area bound by 25-48.0N…
  17. HYDROPAC 2089/12 · Wrecks2012-07-23 → 2012-08-11
    Cancel HYDROPAC 2086/12
  18. HYDROPAC 2086/12 · Wrecks2012-07-22 → 2012-07-23
    South China Sea
  19. HYDROPAC 2084/12 · Cable ops2012-07-22 → 2012-11-16
    Seismic survey 25 jul thru 15 nov by M/V viking vision in area bound by 15-16-02.2N 109-39-20.2E,…
  20. HYDROPAC 2061/12 · Surveys2012-07-20 → 2012-07-25
    Underwater operations in progress until 24 jul by M/V dsv rem etive vicinity 11-38-32N 118-58-22E

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