Saldanha Bay, South Africa
Port · ZASDB · -33.00°, 18.01° · Mineral Products, Metals, Chemical & Allied Industries
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 8
- vessel calls / yr
- 545
About the port
The World Port Index lists Saldanha Bay as a medium coastal breakwater harbour with fair shelter.
Listed depths: 23 m in the channel, 16 m at the anchorage, 22 m at the cargo pier and 23 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 compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated limited.
Saldanha Bay is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 537 port calls at Saldanha Bay from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 45 a month, 4% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, dry bulk carriers 85%, tankers 11% and general cargo ships 4% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 2.6 million t imported and 51 million t exported.
The busiest month was Aug 2026 (53 calls) and the quietest Oct 2025 (29).
What is reported near this port
8 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Saldanha Bay, the earliest issued in 2003; the most common types are nav aids (4), incidents (2) and derelicts (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Saldanha Bay 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: 53 calls, 368 thousand t in, 4.8 million 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
- medium coastal breakwater
- shelter
- fair
- water body
- South Atlantic Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA VII
- depths
- channel 23 m · anchorage 16 m · cargo pier 22 m · oil terminal 23 m
- mean rise of tide
- 2 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, swell; not ice, tide
- overhead limits
- yes
- turning area
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- 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, electrical repair, navigation equipment repair
- supplies
- diesel, fuel oil, provisions, water; not deck stores, engine stores
- repairs
- limited
- marine railway
- medium
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 123 (Enroute) - Southwest Coast of Africa
- chart
- 57480
World Port Index entry Saldanha Bay (No. 46750), 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 South Africa's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 5.0%, exports 29%.
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.