Nacala, Mozambique
Port · MZMNC · -14.54°, 40.65° · Mineral Products, Metals, Vegetable Products
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 5
- vessel calls / yr
- 394
About the port
The World Port Index lists Nacala as a very small coastal natural harbour with good shelter.
Listed depths: 23 m in the channel, 9 m at the anchorage, 6 m at the cargo pier and 9 m at the oil terminal, with a mean rise of tide of 3 m.
Entry can be restricted by tide and other conditions.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated limited.
PortWatch estimates 587 port calls at Nacala from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 49 a month, 16% more than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, dry bulk carriers 35%, container ships 29% and general cargo ships 19% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 1.6 million t imported and 11 million t exported.
The busiest month was Jun 2026 (56 calls) and the quietest Nov 2025 (43).
What is reported near this port
5 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Nacala, the earliest issued in 1998; the most common types are nav aids (3), piracy (1) and cable ops (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Nacala 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: 51 calls, 153 thousand t in, 993 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
- JUDE-25 · tropical cyclone · red alert · 2025-03-08 to 2025-03-16 — Hurricane (maximum wind speed of 148 km/h)
- Flood in Mozambique · flood · red alert · 2019-03-09 to 2019-03-29
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
- very small coastal natural
- shelter
- good
- water body
- Mozambique Channel; Indian Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA VII
- depths
- channel 23 m · anchorage 9 m · cargo pier 6 m · oil terminal 9 m
- mean rise of tide
- 3 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, tide; not ice, swell
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- advisable, compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- anchorage, wharves
- cranes
- fixed, floating, mobile
- services
- garbage disposal, longshore labour, medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- diesel, engine stores, water; not deck stores
- repairs
- limited
- marine railway
- small
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 171 (Enroute) - East Africa and the South Indian Ocean
- chart
- 61170
World Port Index entry Nacala (No. 46935), 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 Mozambique's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 12%, exports 31%.
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.