Sulu Sea
IHO sea area 48a · 117° to 123° E, 5° to 13° N
- in force
- 0
- last 12 months
- 9
- archive messages
- 134
- categories
- 12
What the archive shows
134 messages are recorded since 1997-05-12 for the Sulu Sea. The selection uses the IHO sea area; a message may describe an exercise, equipment outage or continuing operation as well as a hazard report.
Exercises accounts for 43 of 134 recorded messages (32%), the largest category group in this selection.
The NGA historical archive froze in 2024-05; live collection began 2026-08-17. Counts around that gap are incomplete, and changes in reporting volume do not establish changes in incident frequency.
In force now · 0
Nothing in force in this sea right now.
By year
97
98
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
22
23
24
25
26
By month (all years)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
By category · available archive
| Exercises | 43 | 32% |
| Cable ops | 26 | 19% |
| Quakes | 17 | 13% |
| Incidents | 14 | 10% |
| Piracy | 13 | 10% |
| Missiles | 8 | 6% |
| Surveys | 4 | 3% |
| Nav aids | 3 | 2% |
| Derelicts | 2 | 1% |
| Towing | 2 | 1% |
| Spills | 1 | 1% |
| Wrecks | 1 | 1% |
Ports on this sea · 5
Busiest first by annual vessel calls (IMF PortWatch); each port page shows the warnings within 60 nm, its World Port Index profile and monthly port calls.
- Iloilo · Philippines9 archived
- Bacolod · Philippines10 archived
- Sandakan · Malaysia3 archived
- Zamboanga · Philippines27 archived
- Puerto Princesa · Philippines22 archived
Archive · 134 cancelled
- NAVAREA XI 422/26 · Missiles2026-09-20 → 2026-09-24Space debris hazard areas exist in the northern South China Sea and Sulu Sea from 1100 to 1700 UTC on 23 September, canceled at 1800 UTC.
- HYDROPAC 2726/26 · Missiles2026-09-20 → 2026-09-23Space debris from hazardous operations threatens areas of the South China Sea and Sulu Sea near the Philippines on September 23 between 1100 and 1700 UTC.
- NAVAREA XI 411/26 · Missiles2026-09-16 → 2026-09-18Space debris hazard area in Sulu Sea on 17 September 1225Z to 1254Z, bounded by listed coordinates, cancelled 1354Z.
- HYDROPAC 2641/26 · Missiles2026-09-12 → 2026-09-14Hazardous operations involving space debris are scheduled in the Sulu Sea off the Philippines from 16 September 2200Z to 17 September 0400Z.
- NAVAREA XI 406/26 · Missiles2026-09-12 → 2026-09-17Space debris hazard area in the Sulu Sea from 16 September 2200 to 17 September 0400, bounded by coordinates, cancels at 17 September 0500.
- HYDROPAC 2308/26 · Missiles2026-08-11 → 2026-08-21Space debris hazard operations are occurring in Sulu Sea, Philippines, on August 16 from 02:00 to 08:00 UTC; warning canceled August 26 at 09:00 UTC.
- HYDROPAC 119/26 · Missiles2026-01-16 → 2026-04-17Hazardous operations, space debris 190500Z to 191100Z jan in areas bound by: a. 09-31.00N 119-04.00E,…
- HYDROPAC 3176/25 · Missiles2025-12-02 → 2026-01-16Hazardous operations, space debris 060700Z to 061300Z dec in areas bound by: a. 12-54.00N 116-10.00E,…
- USGS-US6000RL2N · Quakes2025-11-02 → 2025-11-0513 km wsw of mabinay, philippines
- HYDROPAC 291/25 · Exercises2025-02-05 → 2025-06-16Gunnery exercises 10 thru 14 feb in area bound by 06-45.00N 121-38.00E, 06-55.00N 121-38.00E, 06-55.00N…
- HYDROPAC 3606/24 · Exercises2024-11-21 → 2025-02-10Gunnery exercises 24 thru 30 nov in area bound by 09-35.40N 118-54.97E, 09-35.40N 119-02.00E, 09-28.48N…
- HYDROPAC 3594/24 · Exercises2024-11-20 → 2025-02-10Gunnery exercises 25 thru 30 nov in area bound by 06-41.67N 121-23.35E, 06-41.73N 121-28.39E, 06-36.63N…
- HYDROPAC 3581/24 · Exercises2024-11-19 → 2025-02-10Gunnery exercises 24 thru 30 nov in area bound by 06-55.00N 121-38.00E, 06-55.00N 121-48.00E, 06-45.00N…
- HYDROPAC 3540/24 · Exercises2024-11-14 → 2025-02-10Gunnery exercises 18 thru 22 nov in area bound by 08-05.00N 117-25.50E, 08-05.00N 117-35.00E, 07-55.00N…
- HYDROPAC 1569/24 · Exercises2024-05-10 → 2024-05-21Gunnery exercises in progress until 20 may in area bound by 09-35.40N 119-02.00E, 09-35.40N 118-54.97E,…
- HYDROPAC 1489/24 · Exercises2024-05-04 → 2024-05-12Gunnery exercises in progress until 11 may in area bound by 06-45.00N 121-38.00E, 06-55.00N 121-38.00E,…
- HYDROPAC 976/24 · Surveys2024-03-25 → 2024-05-06Survey operations in progress until further notice by M/V sw thuridur towing 12, 8000 meter long cables in…
- HYDROPAC 974/24 · Exercises2024-03-25 → 2024-03-28Gunnery exercises in progress until 27 mar in area bound by 10-21.70N 122-17.90E, 10-24.20N 122-17.90E,…
- HYDROPAC 943/24 · Exercises2024-03-22 → 2024-03-23Gunnery exercises in progress until 222359Z mar in area bound by 06-45.00N 121-38.00E, 06-55.00N 121-38.00E,…
- HYDROPAC 894/24 · Cable ops2024-03-18 → 2026-09-25Pipeline operations are underway in the Sibuyan, South China, and Sulu Seas near the Philippines until further notice; wide berth requested.
Sea boundaries: Flanders Marine Institute (2018), IHO Sea Areas v3, marineregions.org (CC BY 4.0). Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA / coastal broadcasts.