Sandakan, Malaysia
Port · MYSDK · 5.81°, 118.06° · Mineral Products, Chemical & Allied Industries, Metals
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 3
- vessel calls / yr
- 265
About the port
The World Port Index lists Sandakan as a small coastal natural harbour with good shelter.
Listed depths: 9 m in the channel, 16 m at the anchorage, 5 m at the cargo pier and 9 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.
Sandakan is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 305 port calls at Sandakan from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 25 a month, 13% more than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, tankers 67%, general cargo ships 13% and container ships 13% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 846 thousand t imported and 749 thousand t exported.
The busiest month was Mar 2026 (35 calls) and the quietest Feb 2026 (18).
What is reported near this port
3 warnings in this archive have their reported position within 60 nm of Sandakan, the earliest issued in 2014; the most common types are piracy (3).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Sandakan 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: 35 calls, 61 thousand t in, 101 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.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- small coastal natural
- shelter
- good
- water body
- Sulu Sea; North Pacific Ocean
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA XI
- depths
- channel 9 m · anchorage 16 m · cargo pier 5 m · oil terminal 9 m
- mean rise of tide
- 2 m
- entrance restricted by
- other, swell; not ice, tide
- overhead limits
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- advisable; not compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- Mediterranean mooring, wharves
- cranes
- mobile
- services
- garbage disposal, longshore labour, medical; not dirty ballast reception
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, provisions, water; not fuel oil
- repairs
- limited
- marine railway
- medium
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- Sailing Directions Pub. 163 (Enroute) - Borneo Jawa Sulawesi and Nusa Tenggara
World Port Index entry Pelabuhan Sandakan (No. 51720), 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 Malaysia's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 0.3%, exports 0.3%.
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.