Navtex OnlineNAVTEX on the Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal
Four NAVTEX sites cover the Atlantic coast from Brittany to the Strait of Gibraltar: CROSS Corsen at the tip of Brittany, Coruña in Galicia, Penalva near Lisbon, and Tarifa.
Each has an English service on 518 kHz and a national one on 490 kHz, in French, Spanish or Portuguese. The French 490 kHz service is listed as Ouessant.
Stations and broadcast times (UTC)
| Station | Letter | Frequency | Language | Range | Broadcast times (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CROSS Corsen | A | 518 kHz | English | 300 nm | 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00 |
| Ouessant | E | 490 kHz | French | 300 nm | 00:40, 04:40, 08:40, 12:40, 16:40, 20:40 |
| Coruña | D | 518 kHz | English | 300 nm | 00:30, 04:30, 08:30, 12:30, 16:30, 20:30 |
| Coruña | W | 490 kHz | Spanish | 300 nm | 03:40, 07:40, 11:40, 15:40, 19:40, 23:40 |
| Penalva | R | 518 kHz | English | 300 nm | 02:50, 06:50, 10:50, 14:50, 18:50, 22:50 |
| Penalva | G | 490 kHz | Portuguese | 300 nm | 01:00, 05:00, 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00 |
| Tarifa | G | 518 kHz | English | 300 nm | 01:00, 05:00, 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00 |
| Tarifa | T | 490 kHz | Spanish | 300 nm | 03:10, 07:10, 11:10, 15:10, 19:10, 23:10 |
Each slot is a 10-minute window, repeated every 4 hours. Urgent messages can go out at any time. Range is the designed range in nautical miles.
Which station for which waters
- Brittany, the western approaches to the Channel and the north of the Bay of Biscay: CROSS Corsen.
- Galicia, the Cantabrian coast and the south of the Bay of Biscay: Coruña.
- Portugal: Penalva, and Coruña in the north.
- Gulf of Cádiz and the Strait of Gibraltar: Tarifa.
In the Bay of Biscay you can usually receive both Corsen and Coruña. For the Channel, see NAVTEX in the United Kingdom and Ireland; for the islands, the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores.
Latest messages from these stations
- Navigational warning (additional to A) from Penalva RL07 · 11 Nov 02:54 UTC
- Weather forecast from CROSS Corsen AE31 · 11 Nov 00:00 UTC
- Weather forecast from Penalva RE79 · 10 Nov 22:59 UTC
- Weather forecast from Tarifa GE38 · 10 Nov 21:02 UTC
- Meteorological warning from Coruña DB13 · 10 Nov 20:33 UTC
- Weather forecast from Coruña DE31 · 10 Nov 20:30 UTC
- Meteorological warning from Tarifa GB23 · 10 Nov 20:21 UTC
- Navigational warning from CROSS Corsen AA21 · 10 Nov 08:01 UTC
- Navigational warning from CROSS Corsen AA22 · 10 Nov 08:00 UTC
- Navigational warning from Penalva RA87 · 10 Nov 02:51 UTC
Few or no messages from Ouessant E, Coruña W, Penalva G and Tarifa T have reached us in the last week, so their pages may be empty.
What the messages contain
- Navigational warnings (subject
A): military exercises and firing practice, unlit or missing buoys and lights, wrecks, underwater work, cable laying, search areas. - Meteorological warnings (
B): gale and storm warnings. - Weather forecasts (
E). - Search and rescue (
D): distress relays and requests to keep a lookout.
Every message starts with ZCZC, the station letter, the subject letter and a serial number, and ends with NNNN. How to read a NAVTEX message
Reading the messages online
Navtex Online shows the messages received from these stations, each with the original text and a readable version with the abbreviations written out. They come from receivers that publish what they hear and from official lists of warnings; see data sources.
Official sources for this region:
- PING (SHOM) AVURNAV Brest
- Salvamento Marítimo radioavisos
- Instituto Hidrográfico ANAVNET coastal warnings
Not for navigation. Reception on land can be incomplete or garbled, and a message can be missing. This site does not replace a NAVTEX receiver on board or the official broadcasts.
Questions
What frequency is NAVTEX in Atlantic coast of France, Spain and Portugal?
518 kHz: CROSS Corsen A, Coruña D, Penalva R and Tarifa G (English). 490 kHz: Ouessant E, Coruña W, Penalva G and Tarifa T (French; Spanish; Portuguese). Most receivers can listen to 518 kHz and 490 kHz at the same time.
When are the weather forecasts sent?
Weather forecasts (subject E) go out at least twice a day, in each station's own time slots in the table above. The latest forecasts received are on each station's page.
Can I read these messages without a receiver?
Ashore, yes: the messages received from these stations are on this page and on each station's page, for planning. At sea, carry a NAVTEX receiver: internet access is not reliable offshore, and an online copy can be late or incomplete.
More: NAVAREA II (East Atlantic) · NAVAREA III (Mediterranean and Black Sea) · Other regions · What is NAVTEX · Station map