Chicago, United States
Port · USPZH · 41.68°, -87.56°
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 0
- vessel calls / yr
- 77
About the port
The World Port Index lists Chicago as a medium coastal breakwater harbour with excellent shelter.
Listed depths: 8 m in the channel, 8 m at the anchorage, 6 m at the cargo pier and 8 m at the oil terminal.
Entry can be restricted by ice and other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated major, with a large drydock.
Chicago is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 86 port calls at Chicago from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 7 a month, 34% more than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, dry bulk carriers 95% and tankers 5% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 389 thousand t imported and 94 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Jun 2026 (14 calls) and the quietest Dec 2025 (2).
What is reported near this port
No warning in this archive has its reported position within 60 nm of Chicago.
Port calls per month · IMF PortWatch estimates
Oct 2024 – Sep 2026 (last bar: month in progress) · last complete month Aug 2026: 11 calls, 20 thousand t in, 13 thousand t out
In force within 60 nm · 0
Nothing in force within 60 nm right now.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- medium coastal breakwater
- shelter
- excellent
- water body
- Lake Michigan; Great Lakes
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA IV
- depths
- channel 8 m · anchorage 8 m · cargo pier 6 m · oil terminal 8 m
- entrance restricted by
- ice, other; not swell, tide
- overhead limits
- yes
- turning area
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- wharves
- services
- medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- major
- drydock
- large
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- U.S. Coast Pilot 6 - Great Lakes and their connecting waterways
- chart
- 14929
World Port Index entry Calumet Harbor (No. 4790), matched by name 3.7 nm from PortWatch's position for this port. 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 United States's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 0.1%, exports 0.0%.
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.