Kismayo, Somalia
Port · -0.37°, 42.55°
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 1
- vessel calls / yr
- 54
About the port
The World Port Index lists Kismayo as a very small coastal breakwater harbour with good shelter.
Listed depths: 8 m in the channel, 8 m at the anchorage and 8 m at the cargo pier, with a mean rise of tide of 2 m.
Entry can be restricted by swell and other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated limited.
Kismayo is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 49 port calls at Kismayo from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 4 a month, close to the twelve months before.
By vessel type, general cargo ships 67%, dry bulk carriers 18% and tankers 14% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 210 thousand t imported and 28 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Jul 2026 (6 calls) and the quietest Apr 2026 (2).
What is reported near this port
1 warning in this archive has its reported position within 60 nm of Kismayo, the earliest issued in 2010; the most common types are piracy (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Kismayo 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: 4 calls, 9 thousand t in, 1 thousand t out
In force within 60 nm · 0
Nothing in force within 60 nm right now.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- very small coastal breakwater
- shelter
- good
- water body
- Indian Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA VIII
- depths
- channel 8 m · anchorage 8 m · cargo pier 8 m
- mean rise of tide
- 2 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, swell; not ice, tide
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- anchorage, wharves
- services
- longshore labour, medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- provisions, water; not deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil
- repairs
- limited
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 171 (Enroute) - East Africa and the South Indian Ocean
- chart
- 61231
World Port Index entry Kismaayo (No. 47130), matched by name 0.4 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 Somalia's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 4.2%, exports 20%.
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.