WWNWS (World-Wide Navigation Warning Service)

The World-Wide Navigational Warning Service (WWNWS) is the internationally coordinated system that promulgates navigational warnings to ships, run jointly by the IMO and the IHO and established in 1977. It divides the world ocean into 21 NAVAREAs, each with a coordinator state responsible for collecting hazards and broadcasting long-range NAVAREA warnings. The service runs three tiers: NAVAREA warnings for the open ocean, coastal warnings for nearer waters, and local warnings for harbors and approaches. Messages reach ships through SafetyNET over satellite and through NAVTEX in coastal range. The WWNWS is the maritime safety information backbone the bridge relies on to keep the chart and passage plan current.