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 213/22 · Surveys2022-01-25 → 2022-04-26
    Survey operations in progress until 30 apr by M/V ramform sovereign towing 14 9500 meter long cables in area…
  2. HYDROPAC 43/22 · Surveys2022-01-06 → 2022-01-25
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V ramform sovereign towing 14 9500 meter long cables…
  3. HYDROPAC 3763/21 · Surveys2021-12-29 → 2022-01-06
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V ramform sovereign towing 14 9500 meter long cables…
  4. HYDROPAC 3731/21 · Debris2021-12-26 → 2021-12-29
    Object adrift in vicinity 01-59.9N 104-50.9E
  5. HYDROPAC 3602/21 · Debris2021-12-13 → 2021-12-16
    Five meter long cylindrical objects adrift at 130230Z dec in: a. 05-13.1N 113-50.1E
  6. HYDROPAC 3600/21 · Other2021-12-13 → 2021-12-31
    20 meter tug biwan, blue hull, unreported
  7. HYDROPAC 3517/21 · Derelicts2021-12-06 → 2021-12-06
    F/V kh 90026TS disabled and adrift in 11-36.61N 109-17.31E at 061230Z dec
  8. HYDROPAC 3512/21 · Derelicts2021-12-05 → 2021-12-06
    F/V kh 90026 ts disabled and adrift in 11-25.50N 109-37.61E at 051730Z dec
  9. HYDROPAC 3511/21 · Derelicts2021-12-05 → 2021-12-05
    F/V kh 90026 ts disabled and adrift in 11-30N 109-43E at 051230Z dec
  10. HYDROPAC 3316/21 · Missiles2021-11-17 → 2021-11-20
    Hazardous operations, rocket launching 200150Z to 200250Z nov in area bound by 19-29-10N 107-09-04E,…
  11. HYDROPAC 3276/21 · Cable ops2021-11-13 → 2021-12-01
    Cable operations 18 nov thru 17 dec by cableship resolute in area bound by 17-16.2N 119-25.6E, 17-16.3N…
  12. HYDROPAC 3119/21 · Derelicts2021-10-31 → 2021-11-01
    F/V qng 95568 ts disabled and adrift due to engine trouble in 08-07N 111-04E
  13. HYDROPAC 3089/21 · Surveys2021-10-28 → 2021-12-29
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V ramform sovereign towing 14 9500 meter long cables…
  14. HYDROPAC 2907/21 · Surveys2021-10-12 → 2021-10-28
    Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V ramform sovereign towing 14 9500 meter long cables…
  15. HYDROPAC 2873/21 · Wrecks2021-10-08 → 2022-12-02
    F/V bt 98398 ts sank due to collision with M/V bishu maru in 06-30N 107-25E at 080830Z oct
  16. HYDROPAC 2637/21 · Missiles2021-09-16 → 2021-09-20
    Hazardous operations, rocket launching 200700Z to 200800Z sep in areas bound by: a. 14-22-44N 116-48-46E,…
  17. HYDROPAC 2397/21 · Nav aids2021-08-22 → 2021-10-17
    Safe water marks buoy 01-03.0N 103-39.0E unlit
  18. HYDROPAC 2352/21 · Derelicts2021-08-16 → 2022-03-25
    Derelict F/V emj-tujuh round aground in 06-08-04N 104-03-42E
  19. HYDROPAC 2236/21 · Other2021-08-05 → 2021-08-06
    F/V py 94477 ts, four persons abandoned ship in vicinity 11-53N 109-35E at 050755Z aug
  20. HYDROPAC 2122/21 · Derelicts2021-07-22 → 2021-07-25
    Derelict F/V kh 90118TS adrift in vicinity 11-28N 111-39E

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