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 1178/09 · Exercises2009-06-26 → 2009-07-31
    Gunnery exercise 0100Z to 0900Z daily 01 thru 03, 06 thru 10, 13 thru 17, 20 thru 24 and 27 thru 31 jul…
  2. HYDROPAC 1168/09 · Cable ops2009-06-25 → 2009-07-19
    Cable laying operations 27 jun until further notice by cableship rene descartes vicinity of trackline…
  3. HYDROPAC 1109/09 · Cable ops2009-06-14 → 2009-08-16
    Seismic survey 15 jun thru 15 aug by M/V western spirit towing eight 6000 meter long cables in area bound by…
  4. HYDROPAC 1089/09 · Other2009-06-11 → 2009-06-20
    M/V takis reports crewman requiring medical assistance in 09-38N 110-38E at 110200Z jun
  5. HYDROPAC 1016/09 · Piracy2009-05-29 → 2009-06-06
    Five pirates armed with guns and knives boarded a tug underway off the coast of aur island (02-24N 104-24E)…
  6. HYDROPAC 1006/09 · Exercises2009-05-27 → 2009-06-30
    Gunnery exercise 0100Z to 0900Z daily 01 thru 05, 08 thru 12, 15 thru 19, 22 thru 26, 29 and 30 jun within…
  7. HYDROPAC 966/09 · Cable ops2009-05-19 → 2009-05-24
    Seismic survey in progress until 23 may by M/V offshore discovery towing 1200 meter long cable vicinity…
  8. HYDROPAC 927/09 · Cable ops2009-05-14 → 2009-05-31
    Cable repair operations in progress until 30 may by cableship asean restorer in area bound by 01-22.4N…
  9. HYDROPAC 898/09 · Cable ops2009-05-09 → 2009-05-16
    Seismic survey in progress until 15 may by M/V orient explorer towing 4.5 mile long cable in area bound by…
  10. HYDROPAC 867/09 · Derelicts2009-05-02 → 2009-05-09
    Derelict 11.4 meter vessel, blue hull, adrift in 17-44N 118-35E at 011615Z may
  11. HYDROPAC 828/09 · Exercises2009-04-26 → 2009-05-27
    Gunnery exercise 0100Z to 0900Z daily 01, 04 thru 08, 11 thru 15, 18 thru 22 and 25 thru 27 may within 15…
  12. HYDROPAC 827/09 · Cable ops2009-04-26 → 2009-06-25
    Cable laying operations 30 apr until further notice by cableship rene descartes vicinity of trackline…
  13. HYDROPAC 812/09 · Piracy2009-04-24 → 2009-05-08
    Nga chart 71450 (1ST ed)
  14. HYDROPAC 799/09 · Piracy2009-04-22 → 2009-05-02
    Nga chart 71450 (1ST ed)
  15. HYDROPAC 747/09 · Exercises2009-04-14 → 2009-04-21
    Gunnery exercises 182200Z to 190100Z, 190600Z to 190900Z, 200100Z to 200200Z, 200400Z to 200700Z and 210100Z…
  16. HYDROPAC 740/09 · Other2009-04-13 → 2009-04-15
    23 meter M/V propaq T1 and 81 meter barge propaq B1 unreported singapore (01-22.0N 103-48.0E) to vung tau,…
  17. HYDROPAC 737/09 · Cable ops2009-04-13 → 2009-05-06
    Seismic survey in progress until 05 may by M/V orient explorer towing 4.5 mile long cable in area bounded by…
  18. HYDROPAC 701/09 · Cable ops2009-04-07 → 2009-04-26
    Seismic survey in progress until 25 apr by M/V marcus g langseth towing 6000 meter long cable in area bound…
  19. HYDROPAC 668/09 · Piracy2009-04-03 → 2009-04-11
    Nga chart 71440 (2ND ed)
  20. HYDROPAC 667/09 · Derelicts2009-04-03 → 2009-04-10
    Derelict 88 meter barge soekawati II adrift in 09-24N 106-29E at 020930Z apr

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