Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Port · GWOXB · 11.86°, -15.58° · Vegetable Products, Prepared Foodstuffs & Beverages, Mineral Products
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 4
- vessel calls / yr
- 169
About the port
The World Port Index lists Bissau as a very small river natural harbour with good shelter.
Listed depths: 11 m in the channel, 5 m at the anchorage, 8 m at the cargo pier and 3 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 6 m.
Entry can be restricted by tide.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated moderate.
Bissau is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 135 port calls at Bissau from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 11 a month, 5% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, general cargo ships 53%, container ships 26% and dry bulk carriers 16% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 407 thousand t imported and 220 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Sep 2025 (18 calls) and the quietest Mar 2026 (4).
What is reported near this port
4 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Bissau, the earliest issued in 2009; the most common types are incidents (2) and cable ops (2).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Bissau 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: 14 calls, 9 thousand t in, 52 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
- very small river natural
- shelter
- good
- water body
- North Atlantic Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA II
- depths
- channel 11 m · anchorage 5 m · cargo pier 8 m · oil terminal 3 m
- mean rise of tide
- 6 m
- entrance restricted by
- tide; not ice, other
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- advisable, compulsory
- tugs
- not assistance, salvage
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- anchorage, wharves
- cranes
- mobile
- services
- electrical repair, longshore labour, medical, navigation equipment repair
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, provisions, water
- repairs
- moderate
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 143 (Enroute) - West Coast of Europe and Northwest Africa
- chart
- 51580
World Port Index entry Bissau (No. 45838), 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 Guinea-Bissau's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 100%, exports 100%.
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.