Berbera, Somalia
Port · SOBBO · 10.43°, 45.00° · Vegetable Products, Mineral Products, Prepared Foodstuffs & Beverages
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 3
- vessel calls / yr
- 316
About the port
The World Port Index lists Berbera as a small coastal breakwater harbour with fair shelter.
Listed depths: 11 m in the channel, 17 m at the anchorage, 8 m at the cargo pier and 8 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 2 m.
Entry can be restricted by other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated limited.
Berbera is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 363 port calls at Berbera from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 30 a month, 7% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, general cargo ships 45%, container ships 31% and dry bulk carriers 12% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 1.6 million t imported and 192 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Sep 2025 (35 calls) and the quietest Mar 2026 (15).
What is reported near this port
3 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Berbera, the earliest issued in 2002; the most common types are other (1), piracy (1) and cable ops (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Berbera is not necessarily about the port; collection is incomplete between 2024-05 and 2026-08-17.
Port calls per month · IMF PortWatch estimates
Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 (last bar: month in progress) · last complete month Aug 2026: 32 calls, 131 thousand t in, 12 thousand t out
Warnings within 60 nm, by year of issue
In force within 60 nm · 0
Nothing in force within 60 nm right now.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- small coastal breakwater
- shelter
- fair
- water body
- Gulf of Aden; Indian Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA IX
- depths
- channel 11 m · anchorage 17 m · cargo pier 8 m · oil terminal 8 m
- mean rise of tide
- 2 m
- entrance restricted by
- other; not ice, swell, tide
- pilotage
- compulsory
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- anchorage, wharves
- cranes
- fixed, mobile
- services
- longshore labour, medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- water; not deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil
- repairs
- limited
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 172 (Enroute) - Red Sea and the Persian Gulf
- chart
- 62091
World Port Index entry Berbera (No. 47820), matched by UN/LOCODE. NGA Publication 150 (U.S. government work). The index describes the port as last surveyed for the publication; it is not a substitute for Sailing Directions or port authority information.
Share of Somalia's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 43%, exports 50%.
Chokepoint and port data: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org) — IMF and the University of Oxford, via the UN Global Platform. Not for navigation — follow official NAVAREA / coastal broadcasts and port authority notices.