Navtex OnlineNAVTEX in the North Sea
Five NAVTEX sites around the North Sea broadcast in English on 518 kHz: Pinneberg (Germany), the Netherlands Coastguard at Den Helder, Oostende (Belgium), Cullercoats (England) and Rogaland (Norway).
On 490 kHz, Pinneberg has a German service, Oostende a Dutch one, and Cullercoats sends the UK inshore waters forecasts.
Stations and broadcast times (UTC)
| Station | Letter | Frequency | Language | Range | Broadcast times (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pinneberg | S | 518 kHz | English | 270 nm | 03:00, 07:00, 11:00, 15:00, 19:00, 23:00 |
| Pinneberg | L | 490 kHz | German | 270 nm | 01:50, 05:50, 09:50, 13:50, 17:50, 21:50 |
| Netherlands Coastguard | P | 518 kHz | English | 250 nm | 02:30, 06:30, 10:30, 14:30, 18:30, 22:30 |
| Oostende | T | 518 kHz | English | 55 nm | 03:10, 07:10, 11:10, 15:10, 19:10, 23:10 |
| Oostende | V | 518 kHz | English | 150 nm | 03:30, 07:30, 11:30, 15:30, 19:30, 23:30 |
| Oostende | B | 490 kHz | Dutch | 55 nm | 00:10, 04:10, 08:10, 12:10, 16:10, 20:10 |
| Cullercoats | G | 518 kHz | English | 270 nm | 01:00, 05:00, 09:00, 13:00, 17:00, 21:00 |
| Cullercoats | U | 490 kHz | English | 270 nm | 03:20, 07:20, 11:20, 15:20, 19:20, 23:20 |
| Rogaland | L | 518 kHz | English | 450 nm | 01:50, 05:50, 09:50, 13:50, 17:50, 21:50 |
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
- German Bight, the Elbe and the Danish west coast: Pinneberg.
- Dutch coast and the Frisian Islands: Netherlands Coastguard.
- Belgian coast, the southern North Sea and the Dover Strait: Oostende; for the Channel also Niton.
- Western North Sea along the English and Scottish coasts: Cullercoats.
- Eastern North Sea, the Norwegian coast and the Skagerrak: Rogaland.
Latest messages from these stations
- Weather forecast from Netherlands Coastguard PE59 · 11 Nov 14:35 UTC
- Weather forecast from Pinneberg SE05 · 11 Nov 11:04 UTC
- Navigational warning from Netherlands Coastguard PA31 · 11 Nov 10:31 UTC
- Navigational warning from Netherlands Coastguard PA40 · 11 Nov 10:31 UTC
- Search and rescue / piracy / tsunami warning from Pinneberg SD00 · 11 Nov 10:27 UTC
- Search and rescue / piracy / tsunami warning from Pinneberg SD00 · 11 Nov 10:26 UTC
- Navigational warning from Pinneberg SA43 · 11 Nov 09:14 UTC
- Unassigned subject from Cullercoats GR27 · 11 Nov 09:04 UTC
- Weather forecast from Cullercoats GE93 · 11 Nov 09:00 UTC
- Navigational warning from Pinneberg LA73 · 11 Nov 08:59 UTC
Few or no messages from Oostende B and Cullercoats U 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:
- BSH nautical warnings, North Sea
- DWD North and Baltic Sea bulletin
- BSH nautical warnings, Baltic
- KNMI Dutch EEZ (NAVTEX) forecast
- UKHO radio navigational warnings
- Met Office shipping forecast
- Met Office extended outlook by NAVTEX area
- Met Office inshore waters forecast
- Kystverket 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 the North Sea?
518 kHz: Pinneberg S, Netherlands Coastguard P, Oostende T, Oostende V, Cullercoats G and Rogaland L (English). 490 kHz: Pinneberg L, Oostende B and Cullercoats U (German; Dutch; English). 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 I (North-east Atlantic) · Other regions · What is NAVTEX · Station map