Karatsu, Japan
Port · JPKAR · 33.48°, 129.95° · Mineral Products, Chemical & Allied Industries, Plastics, Rubber, Leather
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 7
- vessel calls / yr
- 315
About the port
The World Port Index lists Karatsu as a small coastal natural harbour with good shelter.
Listed depths: 6 m in the channel, 9 m at the anchorage, 8 m at the cargo pier and 11 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 2 m.
Entry can be restricted by swell and other conditions.
Pilotage is not compulsory but is advisable.
Repair facilities are rated limited.
Karatsu is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 224 port calls at Karatsu from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 19 a month, 8% more than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, tankers 55%, general cargo ships 23% and dry bulk carriers 22% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 823 thousand t imported and 35 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Jun 2026 (25 calls) and the quietest Jul 2026 (14).
What is reported near this port
7 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Karatsu, the earliest issued in 2000; the most common types are quakes (5), incidents (1) and cable ops (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Karatsu 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: 22 calls, 46 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.
Disruption events listing this port · IMF PortWatch
- HAISHEN-20 · tropical cyclone · red alert · 2020-08-31 to 2020-09-07 — Tropical Storm (maximum wind speed of 250 km/h)
- MAYSAK-20 · tropical cyclone · red alert · 2020-08-28 to 2020-09-02 — Hurricane/Typhoon > 74 mph (maximum wind speed of 231 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
- small coastal natural
- shelter
- good
- water body
- Korea Strait; North Pacific Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA XI
- depths
- channel 6 m · anchorage 9 m · cargo pier 8 m · oil terminal 11 m
- mean rise of tide
- 2 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, swell
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- advisable; not compulsory
- tugs
- not assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- wharves
- services
- medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- fuel oil, water
- repairs
- limited
- marine railway
- small
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 159 (Enroute) - Japan - Volume II
- chart
- 97425
World Port Index entry Karatsu (No. 62420), 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 Japan'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.