Spills

Saba Bank in the eastern Caribbean is designated an IMO Area to Be Avoided and Particularly Sensitive Sea Area; entry and anchoring are restricted for vessels.

Caribbean Sea · NAVAREA IV 1524/24

What this record establishes

Listed in force

The latest collected record lists this warning as active. This is the status of the notice, not a live observation of conditions at the location.

Source and dates
NGA MSI in-force warnings (DailyMem*.txt). Issued 2024-12-04 13:31Z. First collected 2026-08-17 13:41Z; last seen in collection 2026-10-02 18:47Z. Collection dates record ingestion, not a new incident or a fresh field observation.
Location covered
Caribbean Sea. The map shows an area described by the warning; the listed coordinate is its representative center. Check the original wording for limits and qualifications.

Current notices and reporting history in the Caribbean Sea →

issued
2024-12-04 13:31Z
status
Listed in force
NAVAREA
NAVAREA IV
sea
Caribbean Sea
position
17.423, -63.503
nearest port
Basseterre · 44 nm
source
NGA MSI in-force warnings (DailyMem*.txt) · first seen 2026-08-17 13:41Z

Original warning text

EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA.
ST. KITTS AND NEVIS.
1. SABA BANK HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS AN IMO
   ADOPTED AREA TO BE AVOIDED (ATBA) AND
   PARTICULARLY SENSITIVE SEA AREA (PSSA).
2. TO AVOID THE RISK OF POLLUTION AND DAMAGE
   TO THE ENVIRONMENT, ENTRY IS PROHIBITED FOR
   VESSELS OF 300 GROSS TONS AND GREATER, AND
   ANCHORING IS PROHIBITED FOR ALL VESSELS,
   IN AREA BOUND BY
   17-27.06N 063-56.14W, 17-29.00N 063-55.09W,
   17-27.94N 063-43.32W, 17-38.03N 063-27.41W,
   17-43.35N 063-32.74W, 17-45.98N 063-29.98W,
   17-40.34N 063-21.10W, 17-30.88N 063-10.92W,
   17-23.80N 063-11.25W, 17-16.27N 063-15.85W,
   17-13.44N 063-26.89W, 17-10.55N 063-41.81W,
   17-20.85N 063-49.89W.
   VESSELS VIOLATING THESE REGULATIONS WILL
   RECEIVE A FINE.
3. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT DUTCH
   CARRIBEAN COAST GUARD, PHONE: 599 9463 7620,
   599 9510 0913, EMAIL: RCC.CURACAO@MINDEF.NL.
4. CANCEL NAVAREA IV 1518/24.

Reading this warning

Oil spill / pollution
Oil or chemicals in the water, and the response vessels working to contain them.
Navigation prohibited
Ships may not enter or pass through the area, or a port is closed to traffic.
Anchoring and fishing prohibited
Ships may pass but must not anchor, trawl or put gear on the seabed — usually because of cables, pipelines, moorings or ordnance.
Area bound by
Introduces a list of positions that are the corners of an area — the polygon the warning applies to.
Position (degrees and minutes)
How warnings write positions: degrees, a hyphen, then minutes, with N/S and E/W — 49-40.8N 003-43.8W.
RCC / JRCC (Rescue Coordination Centre)
The centre that organises search and rescue in its region; warnings ask ships to send their reports there.
Cancellation reference
A line that cancels an earlier warning by its number, such as CANCEL HYDROLANT 1085/12.
NAVAREA
One of the 21 ocean areas of the World-Wide Navigational Warning Service, each with a coordinator that broadcasts long-range warnings.

All warning terms →

Conditions at the position · now

loading…

MET Norway · NOAA WaveWatch III · HYCOM · GEBCO 2020 · model data at the centroid, not an observation

Collected reports in this area · spills & pollution incidents

84 within 180 nm since 1968 · 1 in the last 12 months · 1 listed in force now

68
70
75
80
85
90
95
00
05
10
15
20
25
26

Counts include repeat notices about the same situation. NGA archive coverage ends 2024-05; live collection began 2026-08-17. The period between them is incomplete. An empty year is not evidence that no hazards occurred.

Month of issue in the collected archive

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D

All available years combined. Uneven collection and repeat bulletins affect these counts; this chart does not measure the seasonality or probability of incidents.

Nearby notices listed in force · within 120 nm

Worldwide in the collected sources

7 spills & pollution incidents listed in force · see all

Record snapshot 2026-10-02 18:56Z; source collection times vary.

Spills

Oil and chemical spills, groundings and vessel casualties with a pollution threat: NOAA IncidentNews responses since 1957, and spill-response areas broadcast as navigational warnings. All current spills & pollution incidents →

Not for navigation. This is a re-rendering of an official navigational warning for awareness; mariners must use official NAVAREA broadcasts and their national MSI service.