Bossaso, Somalia
Port · SOBSA · 11.29°, 49.18° · Vegetable Products, Prepared Foodstuffs & Beverages, Mineral Products
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 5
- vessel calls / yr
- 81
About the port
The World Port Index lists Bossaso as a small coastal breakwater harbour.
Listed depths: 17 m at the anchorage and 6 m at the cargo pier.
Entry can be restricted by other conditions.
PortWatch estimates 97 port calls at Bossaso from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 8 a month, 15% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, general cargo ships 63%, dry bulk carriers 20% and tankers 11% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 239 thousand t imported and 101 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Nov 2025 (13 calls) and the quietest Mar 2026 (3).
What is reported near this port
5 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Bossaso, the earliest issued in 2005; the most common types are piracy (3), incidents (1) and derelicts (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Bossaso 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: 8 calls, 18 thousand t in, 4 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
- water body
- Gulf of Aden; Indian Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA VIII
- depths
- anchorage 17 m · cargo pier 6 m
- entrance restricted by
- other
- good holding ground
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 172 (Enroute) - Red Sea and the Persian Gulf
- chart
- 801243
World Port Index entry Boosaaso (No. 47830), 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 6.7%, exports 13%.
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.