Sarnia, Canada
Port · CASNI · 42.95°, -82.41° · Mineral Products, Chemical & Allied Industries, Stone & Glass
- in force · 60 nm
- 0
- issued · 30 d
- 0
- archive messages
- 1
- vessel calls / yr
- 561
About the port
The World Port Index lists Sarnia as a small river natural harbour with excellent shelter.
Listed depths: 5 m in the channel, 8 m at the anchorage, 6 m at the cargo pier and 6 m at the oil terminal.
Entry can be restricted by ice.
Pilotage is compulsory.
Repair facilities are rated major.
Sarnia is a first port of entry.
PortWatch estimates 493 port calls at Sarnia from Sep 2025 to Aug 2026, about 41 a month, 3% fewer than in the twelve months before.
By vessel type, dry bulk carriers 62%, tankers 36% and general cargo ships 2% of those calls.
Estimated cargo over the same months: 2.2 million t imported and 1.7 million t exported.
The busiest month was Sep 2025 (60 calls) and the quietest Jan 2026 (15).
What is reported near this port
1 warning in this archive has its reported position within 60 nm of Sarnia, the earliest issued in 2020; the most common types are spills (1).
Distance is measured to each warning's reported point or area centre, so a warning near Sarnia 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: 54 calls, 221 thousand t in, 222 thousand t out
In force within 60 nm · 0
Nothing in force within 60 nm right now.
Port characteristics · World Port Index
- harbour
- small river natural
- shelter
- excellent
- water body
- Lake Saint Clair; Great Lakes
- NAVAREA
- NAVAREA IV
- depths
- channel 5 m · anchorage 8 m · cargo pier 6 m · oil terminal 6 m
- entrance restricted by
- ice; not other, swell, tide
- overhead limits
- no
- turning area
- yes
- good holding ground
- yes
- pilotage
- compulsory
- tugs
- assistance
- traffic and reporting
- ETA message required
- berthing
- wharves
- services
- dirty ballast reception, electrical repair, medical, navigation equipment repair
- supplies
- deck stores, diesel, engine stores, fuel oil, provisions, water
- repairs
- major
- marine railway
- small
- first port of entry
- yes
- sailing directions
- U.S. Coast Pilot 6 - Great Lakes and their connecting waterways
- chart
- 14852, 14853
World Port Index entry Sarnia (No. 3700), 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 Canada's maritime trade through this port (PortWatch): imports 3.5%, exports 1.0%.
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.