Detroit, United States
Port · USDET · 42.28°, -83.13° · Mineral Products, Chemical & Allied Industries, Stone & Glass
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 5
- vessel calls / yr
- 570
About the port
The World Port Index lists Detroit as a large river natural harbour with excellent shelter.
Listed depths: 6 m in the channel, 8 m at the anchorage, 8 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.
Detroit is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 521 port calls at Detroit from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 43 a month, 7% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, dry bulk carriers 82%, tankers 9% and general cargo ships 7% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 3.5 million t imported and 763 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Jun 2026 (67 calls) and the quietest Feb 2026 (5).
What is reported near this port
5 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Detroit, the earliest issued in 2004; the most common types are spills (5).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Detroit 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: 60 calls, 454 thousand t in, 81 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
- large river natural
- shelter
- excellent
- water body
- Lake Erie; Great Lakes
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA IV
- depths
- channel 6 m · anchorage 8 m · cargo pier 8 m · oil terminal 8 m
- entrance restricted by
- ice, other; not swell, tide
- overhead limits
- yes
- turning area
- yes
- pilotage
- compulsory
- tugs
- assistance; not salvage
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- wharves
- cranes
- fixed, mobile
- services
- electrical repair, garbage disposal, longshore labour, medical, navigation equipment repair; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- major
- drydock
- large
- marine railway
- medium
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- U.S. Coast Pilot 6 - Great Lakes and their connecting waterways
- chart
- 14853
World Port Index entry Detroit (No. 3620), 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 United States's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 0.7%, exports 0.1%.
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.