Freetown, Sierra Leone
Port · SLFNA · 8.49°, -13.20° · Mineral Products, Vegetable Products, Prepared Foodstuffs & Beverages
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 8
- vessel calls / yr
- 611
About the port
The World Port Index lists Freetown as a small coastal natural harbour with fair shelter.
Listed depths: 8 m in the channel, 14 m at the anchorage, 9 m at the cargo pier and 11 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 3 m.
Entry can be restricted by tide, swell and other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated moderate.
Freetown is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 760 port calls at Freetown from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 63 a month, 17% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, general cargo ships 46%, dry bulk carriers 23% and container ships 16% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 4.4 million t imported and 2.0 million t exported.
The busiest month was Dec 2025 (85 calls) and the quietest Aug 2026 (47).
What is reported near this port
8 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Freetown, the earliest issued in 2007; the most common types are piracy (5) and incidents (3).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Freetown 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: 47 calls, 240 thousand t in, 54 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 natural
- shelter
- fair
- water body
- North Atlantic Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA II
- depths
- channel 8 m · anchorage 14 m · cargo pier 9 m · oil terminal 11 m
- mean rise of tide
- 3 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, swell, tide; not ice
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- advisable, compulsory
- tugs
- assistance, salvage
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- anchorage, wharves
- cranes
- fixed, mobile
- services
- garbage disposal, longshore labour, medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- moderate
- marine railway
- small
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 143 (Enroute) - West Coast of Europe and Northwest Africa
- chart
- 51622
World Port Index entry Freetown (No. 45862), 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 Sierra Leone'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.