Navtex OnlineNAVTEX in Turkey
Turkey broadcasts NAVTEX from four coast stations: İstanbul, İzmir, Antalya and Samsun. The warnings are published by the Turkish Navy's Office of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography (SHODB).
Each station has a service in English and Turkish on 518 kHz and one in Turkish on 490 kHz, which is designed to reach further.
Stations and broadcast times (UTC)
| Station | Letter | Frequency | Language | Range | Broadcast times (UTC) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| İstanbul | D | 518 kHz | English and Turkish | 250 nm | 00:30, 04:30, 08:30, 12:30, 16:30, 20:30 |
| İstanbul | B | 490 kHz | Turkish | 400 nm | 00:10, 04:10, 08:10, 12:10, 16:10, 20:10 |
| İzmir | I | 518 kHz | English and Turkish | 250 nm | 01:20, 05:20, 09:20, 13:20, 17:20, 21:20 |
| İzmir | C | 490 kHz | Turkish | 400 nm | 00:20, 04:20, 08:20, 12:20, 16:20, 20:20 |
| Antalya | F | 518 kHz | English and Turkish | 250 nm | 00:50, 04:50, 08:50, 12:50, 16:50, 20:50 |
| Antalya | D | 490 kHz | Turkish | 400 nm | 00:30, 04:30, 08:30, 12:30, 16:30, 20:30 |
| Samsun | E | 518 kHz | English and Turkish | 250 nm | 00:40, 04:40, 08:40, 12:40, 16:40, 20:40 |
| Samsun | A | 490 kHz | Turkish | 400 nm | 00:00, 04:00, 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00 |
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
- Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles and the western Black Sea coast: İstanbul.
- Aegean coast from the Dardanelles to Bodrum: İzmir. The Greek stations also reach the Aegean; see NAVTEX in Greece.
- Mediterranean coast from Fethiye to Mersin: Antalya.
- Central and eastern Black Sea coast: Samsun.
Latest messages from these stations
- Weather forecast from İzmir IE38 · 9 Nov 21:20 UTC
- Navigational warning from İzmir IA33 · 9 Nov 01:21 UTC
- Navigational warning from İstanbul DA89 · 9 Nov 00:45 UTC
- Navigational warning from İzmir IA58 · 9 Nov 00:11 UTC
- Weather forecast from İzmir IE86 · 8 Nov 21:53 UTC
- Navigational warning from İzmir IA34 · 8 Nov 19:28 UTC
- Navigational warning from İstanbul DA63 · 8 Nov 04:38 UTC
- Navigational warning from İstanbul DA13 · 8 Nov 04:34 UTC
- Navigational warning from İzmir IA56 · 8 Nov 01:23 UTC
- Navigational warning from İzmir IA23 · 7 Nov 21:21 UTC
Few or no messages from İstanbul B, İzmir C, Antalya D and Samsun A 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:
- SHODB Istanbul NAVTEX warnings
- SHODB Izmir NAVTEX warnings
- SHODB Antalya NAVTEX warnings
- SHODB Samsun NAVTEX 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 Turkey?
518 kHz: İstanbul D, İzmir I, Antalya F and Samsun E (English and Turkish). 490 kHz: İstanbul B, İzmir C, Antalya D and Samsun A (Turkish). 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 III (Mediterranean and Black Sea) · Other regions · What is NAVTEX · Station map