Halifax, Canada
Port · CAHAL · 44.67°, -63.57° · Mineral Products, Chemical & Allied Industries, Vegetable Products
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 6
- vessel calls / yr
- 1,060
About the port
The World Port Index lists Halifax as a large coastal natural harbour with excellent shelter.
Listed depths: 20 m in the channel, 13 m at the anchorage, 16 m at the cargo pier and 14 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 2 m.
The index lists no entrance restriction from tide, swell or ice.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated major, with a medium drydock.
Halifax is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 1,096 port calls at Halifax from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 91 a month, 4% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, container ships 57%, tankers 16% and ro-ro vessels 15% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 4.1 million t imported and 2.4 million t exported.
The busiest month was May 2026 (104 calls) and the quietest Feb 2026 (79).
What is reported near this port
6 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Halifax, the earliest issued in 2013; the most common types are nav aids (3), incidents (1) and cable ops (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Halifax 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: 91 calls, 389 thousand t in, 158 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.
Disruption events listing this port · IMF PortWatch
- FIONA-22 · tropical cyclone · red alert · 2022-09-14 to 2022-09-24 — Tropical Storm (maximum wind speed of 213 km/h)
PortWatch lists the ports inside each event's affected area; being listed does not mean the port was damaged or closed.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- large coastal natural
- shelter
- excellent
- water body
- North Atlantic Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA IV
- depths
- channel 20 m · anchorage 13 m · cargo pier 16 m · oil terminal 14 m
- mean rise of tide
- 2 m
- entrance restricted by
- not ice, other, swell, tide
- overhead limits
- yes
- turning area
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- advisable, compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- wharves
- cranes
- fixed, floating, mobile
- services
- dirty ballast reception, electrical repair, longshore labour, medical, navigation equipment repair
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- major
- drydock
- medium
- marine railway
- large
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 145 (Enroute) - Nova Scotia and the Saint Lawrence
- chart
- 14048
World Port Index entry Halifax (No. 6340), 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 Canada's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 4.3%, exports 1.8%.
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.